Getting Through
by gottalovedrakie
Summary: Draco and Hermione are going through a lot of problems the summer after their 5th year. maybe what they need is...each other? Rating might change. Chapter 24 up!
1. Family Problems

Chapter 1- Family Troubles…

AN-This is a Hermione and Draco fan fiction…so if you don't like HG/DM fics, don't read it!! Hermione and Draco are the BEST!!!

Disclaimer- I do not own Harry Potter or the characters. I might add a few later, but the main characters all belong to JK. Enjoy…

Happy Reading…

Lucius and Draco Malfoy were walking down a deserted street in Knockturn Alley. They were both dressed in black from head to toe and they had hoods drawl down over their faces. They walked down the street in complete silence.

'Where is he taking me?' Draco wondered as he followed his father's footsteps. 'He said something about an initiation…. I wish that he would have just stayed in Azkaban. My life was so much easier when he wasn't around…'

Draco thoughts were interrupted when his father said, "We're here."

Draco looked around and saw that they were standing in the front of a deserted house. The windows were all boarded up and the house was literally falling apart. "Where?" Draco asked.

"The Dark Lords house, of course." Lucius said as if it were the most obvious thing in the whole world.

'What?!' Draco screamed to himself. 'Why the bloody hell are we here?'

"Come, we must go meet _Our_ Lord. We don't want to keep him waiting." Lucius said, grabbing his sons hand and pulling him through the door.

The inside of the house was amazing. It looked brand new and expensive. The entire house was done in green and silver, and the railing on the staircase was a huge serpent. Draco gazed at all of the intricate paintings and wall hangings, speechless. 'The Dark Lord sure does do pretty well for himself.' he thought before his father grabbed his arm and pulled him into another room.

In the other room there were thirty or so Death Eaters sitting in a circle. Draco gulped and followed his father to the two empty seats in the circle. They sat down and waited. As they were waiting, Draco gazed around the room. He only recognized a few of the people in the circle; the Parkinson's, the Goyle's, and the Crabbe's. Other than that, he couldn't recognize anybody. Suddenly a harsh silence fell over the group and every persons eyes were focused on the entrance to the room.

Draco followed the other people eyes as another man entered. He was also wearing a black cloak that hid his face. The man had an aura about him that promoted fear in Draco's entire being. He knew that this was without a doubt that this was none other than the Dark Lord himself. The hairs on the back of his neck stood at attention as he walked over towards him, taking his place in the middle of the circle.

All of the Death Eaters immediately fell from their chairs and bowed before the man. Draco joined them out of pure fear of disobeying. The Dark Lord's thin lips curved into a smile as he approached them. Lucius took his hand and raised it to his lips. He kissed it several times, muttering praises between each kiss.

Draco couldn't help but be disgusted. His father was bowing to someone else, a half-blood, and it was despicable. The Dark Lord and his Father talked for a few minutes before he turned to Draco. Draco had no idea what to do or say, so he just stood there and stared. "Draco," Lucius hissed. "Greet your Lord properly."

Draco nodded and did as Lucius had done. He took Voldemort's hand and began kissing it. "Draco, it is good that you have finally been able to attend. I am excited about you joining my ranks. I hear that you are quite the powerful wizard."

"Thank you, Sir. I am honored." Draco said quietly, disgusted with himself for being such a submissive pussy.

"You have brought up quite the young man, Lucius." he said as he turned away from them to address the rest of the group.

Draco listened as they planned Voldemort's return and he was horrified. They were planning on attacking Hogwarts and the Ministry of Magic. Draco did not want to be any part of this. True, he didn't like school, but Hogwarts had been more of a home to him than anywhere else. He might not admit it, but he loved it there.

Soon, the meeting was over and his dad went to talk to Gregory Goyle Sr. He walked over to them and stood, patiently waiting for them to finish.

"--My son will be taking the mark on his seventeenth birthday." Lucius said proudly.

"Mine too. I'm just hoping mine graduates school." Mr. Goyle joked.

"Well, that is not a problem with my son. He is at the top of the class. Unfortunately, he has still not been able to top that stupid Mudblood Ganger."

Draco stared at his feet in order to keep his dad from seeing him roll his eyes in frustration. 'Why does he always have to put me down? Who cares about that stupid Mudblood? The only reason she does better than me is because I have a life and she doesn't. Merlin, I hate her and her stupid Gryffindor friends.' he thought, but he was once again drawn from his thoughts when his dad said, "Well, we best be off. See you guys next time."

The others nodded and Lucius began heading towards the exit with Draco not far behind. When they had walked a few blocks, they apparated back to Malfoy Manor.

With a distinct crack, they were standing in their living room. Lucius turned to Draco and smirked. "Aren't you excited? You will be the youngest Death Eater ever."

"No. I am not going to become a Death Eater." Draco said bravely.

"Excuse me?!" he whispered through gritted teeth.

Draco gulped and mustered every brave muscle in his body before he spoke. "I cannot and will not worship a half-blood. I don't care how powerful you think he is. He can't even beat Potter. I am not going to become a Death Eater. Not now, not ever."

"Really?" Lucius asked in a dangerous voice.

Draco gulped again before nodding. All control that Lucius had a moment ago was gone now. He drew his wand and pointed it at Draco. "_Crucio_!" he yelled.

A green light exploded from the end of his wand and hit Draco square in the chest. Draco knew what was about to happen, but there was no real way to prepare for one of the Unforgivable Curses. Draco immediately fell to the ground in pain. Lucius had of coarse used the Crutacius Curse before, but never when he was this mad. Draco had never felt such an extreme amount of pain in his entire life. Draco felt as if there were millions of knives were inside of his body and that they were trying to carve there way out. A scream was threatening to escape his throat, but he refused to show that kind of weakness to his father.

When Lucius finally lifted the curse, Draco fell flat on the ground and couldn't move. After breathing only a few times, Lucius kicked him square in the stomach, then in the back, and finally he kicked him in head. "You will worship the Dark Lord or you will die." he said as he continued kicking Draco, who was drifting in and out of consciousness. Lucius finally stopped kicking him and left the room, laughing hysterically.

Draco was unable to get up for several minutes, but when he finally got to his feet, he headed straight for his bedroom. He was leaving and never coming back. He stumbled up the stairs, stopping several times, until he reached his room.

Draco quickly piled his stuff into his trunk and shrunk it. He then grabbed his broom and opened his window. He felt a little woozy when he first mounted it, but steadied himself and took off.

He flew through the skies to nowhere in particular; he just knew he had to get away. 'Where am I going?' he wondered as he tried to prevent a concussion. He watched the sky as he flew. It was so relaxing to him, but his eyes were getting heavy and he had to continually fight to keep them open.

Suddenly his eyes fluttered shut, and he couldn't open them again. He felt himself falling, but his body would do nothing to stop this. He was in total and complete blackness……..

Hermione sat in her room crying as she had done every night for the past week. Her mom had died in a car crash a week ago and Hermione had not left her room since the funeral. She didn't know what to do anymore.

She was sobbing to herself when she heard a knock at the door. She didn't answer until she heard her father say, "Hermione Anne Granger, get your ass out here right this instant!"

Hermione had never heard her father talk like that before and she was shocked. She immediately got up and opened the door. She wiped away her tears and stared up at her father. "Yeah, daddy?"

"I am sick and tired of you never leaving your room." he yelled.

"What? Daddy, are you drunk?" Hermione asked. She was in total shock. Her dad had never drunk, and now he was standing in front of her drunk.

"Shut-up! And quit whining! You are such a baby!!" he yelled as he raised his hand and slapped her hard across the face.

Hermione feel to the ground in shock. Her parents have never hit her before. "Da--" she began, but was cut off when he grabbed her shirt and pulled her to her feet.

"I SAID STOP WHINING!!!" he yelled as he raised his hand and slugged her in the stomach.

Hermione fell once again. When she hit the ground, she curled up into a tight ball.

After ten minutes, Hermione's father finished beating her and left. 'What was that? My dad has never beaten me.' Hermione thought as she sobbed.

One week later….

"Stop….PLEASE!!" Hermione yelled as her dad beat her for the fifth time in the last week.

Her father would not stop. Not until he was satisfied. So, Hermione gritted her teeth and endured the pain.

When he finally stopped and left, Hermione decided that she couldn't take it anymore. 'I have to get out of here!' she thought as she got up and hobbled to her room. She quickly put some clothes in a backpack and snuck out of the house. "Where am I going to go?" she said aloud as she looked up at the stars. Suddenly a light appeared in the sky and it was heading straight at her. She ran out of the way when she saw that it was a huge bus.

The flying bus stopped beside her and she realized that it had to be the same bus that Harry had used back in third year. The door open and she boarded the _Knight Bus_. "Hello." said a man sitting in the driver's seat. "Where to, Miss?"

"Umm." Hermione had no idea…Then, she got an idea. "Take me to the Cliffs."

"Yes Ma'am. We will be arriving in twenty three minutes, so get comfortable." he said as he put the bus in gear and began driving once again. Hermione walked to the back of the bus and laid down on one of the beds. As soon as her head hit the pillow, fresh tears began welling up in her eyes. She was crying when she was suddenly thrown from the bed. Hermione hit the ground with a groan. Her body was already covered in bruises and cuts, so the fall had caused her tons of pain.

The bus continued to throw her about until it finally stopped. "We have arrived. Have a good day." Hermione heard a voice say through a speaker above her bed. She got up and walked towards the front of the bus.

"Thank you." she said as she stumbled off of the bus and began walking towards her parent's lake house. They hadn't been here for years and she knew that he would never look for her here.

It was a mile and a half walk and it was dark outside. She took a deep breath and began walking. She had never felt this bad in her entire life. 'This day couldn't get any worse.' she thought.

Then, as if on cue, something fell on her. Hermione screamed as she fell to the ground with the thing on top of her. Hermione hit her head against the concrete and she felt unconsciousness sweep over her. She fought it with all her might and as she tried to shove the heavy figure off of her. She finally realized that it wasn't something, it was someone. Hermione gently moved the lifeless figure off of her and got up.

Hermione let her eyes adjust as she checked the other persons pulse. It was still alive, but he looked really hurt. Hermione tried to see who it was, but she just couldn't see his features in the dark. She knew it was a man because she could feel his abs when she ran her hand over his chest. It was getting darker and she had no idea what to do. She knew that she had to get to her cabin soon, but she just couldn't leave this poor boy here. Hermione stood up and took a second to make sure that she could walk. Then she bent over and tried to pick the boy up. She was only about a fourth of a mile away from her cabin now, but she also knew that it would still be hard to get him there. She finally decided to try anyway. She leaned down and pulled him into a standing position, which was quite a feat in itself. She then leaned down and let him fall across her shoulders. She mustered all of her strength to pull herself into a standing position with the boy on her shoulders. (It was like the way firemen carry people.) She was relieved that he wasn't any heavier because she wouldn't have been able to lift him if he was.

She stood there for a few minutes before taking her first step. 'This is going to take forever.' She thought as she took one slow step at a time.

Thirty minutes later, she finally reached the cabin. She gently sat the boy on the porch swing before lifting the garden gnome to get the spare key. She then went and unlocked the door. She reached in and flipped the light switch. Nothing happened, so she just propped the door open and went to get the boy. She decided that if she tried to pick him up again she might not make it, so she eased him onto the ground and drug him into the cabin.

She finally got him onto the bed and went to find a candle. Ten minutes later she came back in bedroom with three candles and a book of matches. She lit a candle and held it over the boy. When she saw who it was she dropped the candle and the room once again fell into darkness.

"NO WAY!!! It can't possibly be--" Hermione's words were cut off when she fell to the ground. She had fainted…..

AN-There's my first chapter. I hope everyone enjoyed it…Please Read and Review! I will try to update as soon as possible. Thanks…

Love, Gotta Love Drakie


	2. The Shock of a Lifetime

Chapter 2-

Last Time

**__**

She finally got the boy onto the bed and went to find a candle. Ten minutes later she came back into bedroom with three candles and a book of matches. She lit a candle and held it over the boy. When she saw who it was she dropped the candle and the room once again fell into darkness.

"NO WAY!!! It can't possibly be--" Hermione's words were cut off when she fell to the ground. She had fainted…

Happy Reading

Hermione woke up suddenly, thinking that it had all been a horrible dream. She opened her eyes and found that she was in total darkness. Hermione sat up and discovered that she was lying on the floor. "No…it wasn't a dream?" she said out loud as she searched for the fallen candle. She finally found it and the matches, and she lit it once again. She slowly stood and looked at the unconscious boy on the couch. It was none other than Draco Malfoy.

Hermione took a deep breath and decided that she needed to find the breaker box that turned on the lights. She knew how to do it because her father….Fresh tears welled up in her eyes as she thought about him, but she quickly wiped them away and went to find the breaker box.

She got to the stairs and was somewhat apprehensive to walk down them all by herself, but she did. She quickly found what she was looking for and flipped the switch. The lights immediately flared to life and she blew out the candle.

Hermione walked back up stairs and got a wet cloth from the kitchen. She then walked into the bedroom and sat down on the bed beside Draco. "I should just kick you out, you know." she said as she pressed the cloth to his face. "You have done nothing but torture me for five years, but I am not as mean as you are. I can't just leave you out there all by yourself."

Suddenly he stirred and Hermione yanked her hand away. She held her breath and waited for him to lie back again before she let it out. She waited a few minutes before she once again pressed the wet cloth to him forehead. She had totally forgotten about her pain as she cared for the boy in front of her.

After an hour Hermione was fast asleep beside Draco. She had her arm across his stomach and she was sleeping soundly.

Draco was awakened the next morning by a bright light shining in his eyes. He felt horrible. Every little move he made seemed to send a new pain through him. Then, he remembered everything that happened the night before. The last thing he could remember was falling into darkness.

After a few minutes of trying to regain composure, he realized that something lying across his stomach. He reluctantly opened his eyes to see what it was. He looked down and saw that it was an arm. He followed the length of the arm until he saw a head of bushy brown hair. He wanted to remove the hair from the girl's face, but when he moved a searing pain shot down his arm and he was forced to pull it back. He lay still for a few minutes but soon couldn't take it anymore. He had to know who she was. He wiggled underneath her in an effort to wake her up, but she didn't move. So, he cleared his throat and wiggled some more. Finally, the brown haired girl began to stir. He stopped wiggling and waited for her to wake up. But to Draco's dismay, she didn't wake up. Instead, she snuggled closer to him and put one of her legs over his.

'Well,' he thought. 'This isn't so bad. I wonder how I got here, and where the heck am I? I mean this girl must've brought me here, but I still have no idea who she is or where 'here' is.' he wondered as he carefully slid his arms around the girl and closed his eyes.

Hermione POV

Hermione was startled awake when she felt something tighten around her waist. She immediately thought of her dad beating her. Her eyes flew open and she found herself staring at Draco Malfoy. Blood rushed to her face as she pulled herself away. She was about to scream when all of the memories from the previous night came flooding back to her. She immediately scrambled off of the bed and backed away.

Draco's eyes flew open when she pulled away, and he stared at her. His mouth dropped open and he did scream. "AHHH! What the bloody hell are you doing here, Mudblood?!" Draco yelled when he regained some of his composure.

The words stung Hermione and teams sprang into her eyes. Her embarrassment was totally forgotten and replaced by immediate anger. She immediately turned and ran from the room without saying a single word. 'I saved his life. You'd think he'd be just a little grateful.' she thought as she paced the kitchen.

She was on the verge of screaming when she heard a loud groan come from the bedroom. She immediately turned to go to Draco's side when she remembered what he called her. She froze and turned away. 'No way. I am staying right here. He doesn't deserve my help. Forget what I said yesterday, I am kicking his ass out of here today!!' she thought as her stomach rumbled. Just then she realized that she hadn't eaten in two days. In her rage, she stalked over to the cabinets in search of something to eat. The only thing in the entire cabin was one can of chicken noodle soup. 'Great. This is flippin' fabulous.' She thought as she sighed and went to the stove to cook the soup.

While it was cooking, she got two bowls and two glasses out and washed them. She filled both glasses with water and ice, and when the soup was finally warm, she filled them with the warm liquid. She put everything on a tray and carried it into the bedroom. 'This is going to be tons of fun.' said a sarcastic voice in her head.

When she got to the bedroom, she took a deep breath and pushed the door open. She walked over to the bedside table and sat the tray down. The whole time, she felt Draco eyes follow her, but she made no move to acknowledge his presence. She wasn't in the mood for another fight.

Draco watched her as she entered the room and sat a tray on the bedside table. She purposely avoided his gaze as she walked around the room without a word. "How did I get here, Granger?" he asked after watching her for a few minutes.

"I carried you." Hermione replied without looking up.

"You what?"

"I said, I carried you."

"You did?"

"Yes, you fell on top of me. I felt bad for you, and I brought you here." Hermione said as she slowly ate her soup.

"I fell on you?" he asked. Hermione nodded. "Oh."

"Well, eat already. It's going to get cold." Hermione said in an effort to break the awkward silence that was approaching.

Draco nodded and tried to sit up, but was only greeted by an extreme amount of pain which forced him to lay back down. He let out only the smallest sound, but it was enough. He gently laid back and closed his eyes.

Hermione saw this and felt bad for him. 'Why do I have to be so damn nice?!' she thought as she got up and sat on the side on his bed. She then picked up his bowl and a spoon. "Open your mouth." she commanded. Draco was about to refuse, but he realized that he hadn't eaten in a long time and was really hungry. He sighed and opened his mouth.

Hermione put the spoon up to his lips and let the warm soup enter. He swallowed and tried his hardest to keep her from knowing that he liked it. Hermione continued feeding him until all of the soup was gone. When she was done, she got up and collected the bowls and left the room without another word.

'Why is she doing this for me?' he wondered as she left the room. 'This whole situation is messed up! What am I going to do? If she is going to be this nice to me then maybe I should ease up a bit. I guess I should apologize if I want her to continue to willingly serve me.' Then, as if she heard what he was thinking, Hermione walked into the room.

"I have to go find some food." she said before she turned to leave once again.

"Wait." Draco called after her. "I want to say something."

Hermione stopped and turned around. "What?"

"I wanted to umm… a-" Draco paused to clear his throat before finishing. "A-apologize for…you know."

"Calling me a Mudblood?"

"Yeah, and thanks for breaking my fall."

"Sure, bye."

"Wait." Draco said as he saw the dark bruises that decorated her face and arms. "Did I do that to you when I fell?" he asked, pointing to her bruised face.

Hermione looked confused for a moment before she realized what he was talking about. Her hand went to her cheek and she looked down. "No." she whispered, almost inaudibly.

"Then who?" he asked, genuine curiosity in his voice.

"Nobody. I…er…I fell down some stairs." she said a little to quickly.

"No you didn't. I mean I know that you are pretty clumsy, but nobody is that bad." he said sarcastically. "Now, what really happened?"

"None of your business." she yelled, turning and running from the room for the second time today.

'What did I do now?' he wondered. 'Man, this is going to suck!!'

Hermione POV

Hermione stormed out of the room and paced the kitchen. She wasn't really mad at Draco, but she didn't want him to know what really happened either. She knew that it would be hard to avoid telling him if he continued pressing the issue, but she was afraid that he would make fun of her. She knew that he was perfectly capable of taking the thing that would hurt her the mostg and using it against her. '…but what about him. He's the one who fell from the sky. What happened to him?' she wondered as she quickly decided to go ask.

She stalked into the room and promptly sat on the side of the bed. They stared at each other for a long time before Hermione broke the silence. "Well, what happened to you??"

Draco smirked at her and his eyes twinkled as if he was saying 'I know something you don't know.' Then in a high-pitched, mocking voice he said, "That is none of your business."

Hermione glared at him and said, "I think it is. You did, after all, fall from the sky and land on top of me."

"Fine. I will make you a deal, Granger. When you tell me the truth about how you got the bruises, then I will tell you what happened to me." Draco said with another one of his trademark smirks.

Hermione's mouth dropped open. 'That's no fair. I really want to know what happened to him, but I can't tell him what happened to me.'

"Forget it. I already told you what happened to me." she said finally. "I am going to get food. Bye." she said as she slammed the door.

"Bye." Draco said to the closed door. 'She is dying to know what happened to me. She will break soon.' he thought as he smirked once more before closing his eyes and resting. 'Maybe this won't be so bad after all. I have one third of the golden trio waiting on me hand and foot.'


	3. Draco cares?

Chapter 3-

AN- I am glad that all of my wonderful reviewers are enjoying this fic so far…Happy Reading…

Last Time

Summary- Draco is curious as to why Hermione is so badly bruised…Hermione is curious about Draco's condition…neither of them want to tell the other what happened…who will break first?

Hermione was pacing around in the kitchen yet again…'I really want to know…Oh well, I am going to go get that damn food and try to clear my head.' she finally decided as she grabbed her coat and her wand. She got some money out of the cookie jar that was hidden in the house for emergencies, and she left.

Hermione had to walk two and a half miles before she found the small town grocery store. 'Thank Merlin! Wait, how am I going to carry a bunch of groceries two and a half miles? Up a hill no less.' she whined. 'I mean, it was exhausting enough just walking here.'

Hermione entered the store and looked around. She decided that she would buy a lot of soup, cereal, and microwave dinners. After thirty minutes she finally walked up to the cashier to pay. When she was finished she had only had one sack, but it was bulging and extremely heavy. 'Well, here goes nothing.' she thought as she began the long journey back to the cabin.

Draco

'Where the bloody hell is she?' Draco wondered as he sat up in his bed staring at the wall. 'I am board out of my mind. At least when she was here I had someone to talk to, ever if she is a filthy Mudblood.' he thought as he craned his neck to look out the window. 'Dark already? She has been gone for a long time! She needs to hurry her filthy arse up! I am starving-'

Draco thoughts were suddenly cut off when he heard the door slam and someone yelled. 'He he he. She must be in a bad mood. I bet that I can make her feel better.' he thought as he tried to hold in an evil laugh. He closed his eyes and tried to think how he could 'cheer her up.'

Hermione burst through the door. She was totally exhausted. All she wanted now was to climb into bed and sleep. She set the groceries down and headed straight to the spare bedroom. (since Draco was in the master bedroom) She took off her shirt and unceremoniously through it on the floor. She then reached back to unhook her bra, but she was interrupted when she heard a moan coming from the next room. She rolled her eyes and without thinking she stomped into the next room. "What is wrong with you?" she asked when she had opened the door.

Draco was pretending to be asleep when he heard Hermione open the door. He bit the inside of his cheeks to keep himself from laughing before he slowly opened his eyes. He was ready to act like he was in a ton of pain, but he saw that Hermione was standing in front of him with just a bra and a pair of jeans.

'WOW…Granger looks…good…hott…She has a very nice bod-- WAIT!! What am I saying?!! That filthy thing is NOT hott!!' he yelled at himself.

"Ahem!!"

Draco snapped back to reality and a smirk appeared on his face. "Nice bra. I didn't know you were into pink." he said.

Hermione looked confused for a minute before realizing that she was only wearing her bra. Her face turned bright pink, (matching her bra) but she couldn't seem to move. She was frozen.

Draco's smirk got bigger as he watched panic flood her features. Her face was bright red and he was loving it. 'This is priceless.' he thought. He wanted to say _nice boobs_, but what came out was, "Well, if you are just going to stand there, at least cover yourself up." And with that, he threw an unused blanket at her and turned away. 'Wait, did I just do that?' he asked himself as she seemed to snap back to reality and cover herself.

"I-I th-think I-I am g-going t-to g-go n-now." she stuttered as she backed out of the room. 'OMG!!! How could I have done that?!' she screamed to herself as she closed the door and went to her own room.

Back in the master bedroom, Draco was thinking. 'Did I just think that that Mudblood was hott? It must be hormones.' he concluded before deciding to go to sleep.

The next morning, Hermione refused to go into Draco's room. She was still so embarrassed that she knew she couldn't face his remarks about her being ugly or dirty. She just stayed in her room, alone.

Draco, on the other hand, was getting hungry. He waited for her to come in with food for several hours, but she never came. 'Must still be embarrassed about last night. Big deal! It's not like she was naked. Although, I wouldn't have minded that. No! Stop thinking about her. Think about how you can get come food.' he thought.

Finally, Draco decided that if he was going to eat anytime soon, that he would have to get it for himself. He sat up in the bed and found that it didn't hurt too bad. Next he decided to try to stand up. After a few minutes of trying, he was able to stand up without any help. He was in a ton of pain, but he had been through all of this before. He needed a mediwitch, but since he didn't have one, he would have to deal with it himself. He started walking towards the door, but he fell when he was about a foot from the door. He let out a cry in pain as he fell to the hard, wood floor.

Hermione heard him cry, then she heard something hit the ground. She sprang to her feet and ran to where the crash came from. She opened Draco's door to find him laying on the floor, face down.

Forgetting everything, she sat down next to his fallen form. "Draco? Are you okay?" she asked as she lightly tapped his shoulder.

"You just called me Draco." was all he said.

"Yeah, I guess I did. Here, let me help you up. She said as she reached towards him. Then, after several minutes of struggling, Hermione got Draco safely back onto the bed.

"Now, what were you doing?" Hermione asked in a very motherly voice.

"I was hungry." he replied as he tried to get comfortable.

"Why didn't you call me?"

Draco shrugged.

"Well, don't do it again." she commanded. "You have to stay here until you are better."

"yes, Mommy." Draco said in a innocent, child-like voice.

'Innocent, Draco? No way!' Hermione thought as she left the room to make him food yet again.

Hermione made him Macaroni and Cheese and fixed him a glass of cherry cola. She placed it on a tray and brought it to Draco. "Here." She said as she sat the tray on his lap.

"What is this?" he asked.

"Macaroni and Cheese?" she said. 'How could anyone not know what M&C is?' she wondered as he continued to look puzzled. "Just try it." she demanded.

Draco hesitated, but he eventually took a bite. He paused for a minute before nodding. "It is good. You may go now."

Hermione was taken aback. 'How dare he! I am not some made that he can just boss around!' she thought as she stared at him in disbelief.

"That is, unless you decided to tell me what happened to you." he said.

Hermione opened her mouth to yell, but decided better and closed it. "I will not tell first. You tell me why you fell from the sky unconscious and I will tell you why I have all of these bruises."

"Hmmm.' Draco thought. 'I do want to know, wait…why do I care what happened to this stupid Mudblood? I don't. Yeah, I don't care what happened to her. I just need to get better so I can get out of here.' he decided before turning back to his food and brushing her off.

"Fine." Hermione said as she left the room and slammed the door behind her.

The next few days were very similar to this one. They barely said a word to each other. Hermione stayed in her room reading most of the time and Draco stayed in his room getting better.

By the next Monday, Draco thought he was ready to try to walk again. He got off the bed and stood up. 'This isn't so bad.' he thought as he began walking in slow circles. 'I can't believe it took me so long to recover this time. It has never been this bad before. It was probably from the fall….okay, I think I am ready now.' he concluded as he headed for the door. He opened it and saw the rest of the cabin for the first time. It was really nice. It was an actual log cabin. Everything was heat and organized.

As he looked around he saw Hermione laying on the front porch staring at the sky. He walked towards her, but he stopped a few feet from the door. He was about ready to turn when he decided that he needed to tell her that he was going to be leaving soon. He walked out onto the porch and looked at her for a moment. 'She looks so nice.' he thought as he looked at how the clouds reflected in her light brown eyes. "…Even beautiful…peaceful…STOP!!! She is a Muggle-born!!' he thought as he snapped out of his daze.

He then turned to look at the sky to see what was so amazing. The sun was rising and it outlined the clouds with it's brilliant light. He stared at it for a while before deciding to talk to her. He turned to her, but found that she had fell asleep. He watched her, thinking that she looked so beautiful yet again. 'I wonder if I look so at peace when I sleep.' he thought as he watched her. Then, suddenly her expression changed. A frown appeared on her face and Draco watched with an odd curiosity.

Soon, Hermione started making helpless sounds low in her throat and tears began falling from the corners of her eyes. "Stop… that hurts…NOOOO! Please stop!!" she yelled.

Draco was paralyzed. 'What is she dreaming about?' he wondered as her screams got louder and more desperate.

"Let go of me!! Daddy…noooo…" she them began whimpering and she pulled her legs into her chest in a fetal position.

Draco couldn't take it anymore. He felt bad for her. He reached down to wake her, but she flinched at his touch. Draco pulled his arm back as she let out a piercing scream. He knew that he had to wake her up. Draco reached down to her and pulled her to him. She fought against his touch and screamed at the top of her voice, but he didn't let go. "Shhh. It's okay…I won't let him hurt you." he whispered into her ear. At his words she relaxed and laid her head on his shoulder. Her tears slowed and eventually stopped all together. After a few minutes, her breathing was regular and she was smiling again. 'Why did I just do that?!' Draco asked himself as he rocked her back and forth.

Suddenly Hermione's eyes opened and she looked at Draco. She screamed and pulled away from him. "What are you Doing?" she yelled at him.

Draco looked at her. He was stunned. When he finally come beck to reality he said, "What the bloody hell happened to you?"

Hermione looked puzzled. "What are you talking about, Malfoy?" she demanded.

"Granger, use your brain….your bruises. What did your dad do to you?" he demanded in an equally irritated voice.

Hermione was dumbfounded. 'How did he know?' she wondered as she stood there gawking at him. "How did you…"

"You were asleep and you started screaming. You said 'daddy don't'. Now tell me, what the hell happened to you?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. "I-I…h-he…" Hermione's voice trailed off and she looked away from his penetrating eyes.

"He beat you, didn't he?" Draco asked in a surprisingly caring voice.

"Yes…he beat me." Hermione answered when he spoke to her with so much concern and care. "He beat me and I ran away."

"Do you want to talk about it?" he asked. 'Why do I care? Well, duh…I have been through the same thing. I might be a Malfoy, but I am not a heartless son of a…' he thought as he watched her look at him as if she was trying to decided if he was trying to play a joke on her. "Look, I know what you are going through. My dad did this to me too."

Hermione, who had been crying, examined Draco's eyes. She could find no trace of a lie in them, and then he said that about his dad… "O-okay." she said.

"Let's go inside first." he said as he led her into the cabin. They sat on the couch and Hermione told him about her mom dying and her dad drinking and hitting her. "…that's when I decided I had to get out of there. I ran away. I got on the night bus and told him to bring me here. They dropped me off several miles from here. I began walking and that's when you fell on me. I couldn't tell who you were since it was so dark, but I felt bad for you and I knew you had to be a wizard since you were riding your broom. So, I picked you up and brought you here."

"So, you really carried me all the way here??" Draco, who had be listening to every word she said, asked. "I was wondering, why didn't you just fly us here on my broom?"

"Well…I am afraid of flying." she said quietly. "Plus, your broom was broken from the fall. You landed on me, but your broom wasn't so fortunate." she explained as a slight blush crept up her cheeks.

"Oh." he replied. He had no idea what to say. He had never been in this kind of situation before. "I am really sorry that your dad did that to you."

"Don't apologize. He was just sad because he missed mom. I probably deserved it anyway." she said as she suddenly became very interested in her feet.

"NO!!! Do not blame yourself for this! He is the bastard that hit you! You didn't do anything!!!" Draco said. He had no idea why he was getting so angry, but he didn't care. She was wrong.

Hermione looked up and managed to smile. "Thanks. I really needed to tell someone that." she said quietly for fear of him making a rude, cutting comment.

"Right. No problem. So, are you hungry?" he asked as he got up and walked to where he thought the kitchen would be.

Hermione got up and followed him after saying, "Yeah. I haven't eaten in a while."

When they got in the kitchen, Draco made her bacon and eggs. (Hermione had just bought them yesterday. She was getting tired of soup and T.V. dinners)

They ate in silence and Hermione couldn't stop thinking about how nice Draco started being when he heard that her father beat her….

****

AN- That's all 4 now…I have to go watch my friend Gary play some softball…Please Read and Review!!!!! Love yas…

_Gotta Love Drakie_


	4. Draco's story

Chapter 4-

AN-Hello!! Thanks for reviewing everyone!! I love you guys!!

Last Time

"NO!!! Do not blame yourself for this! He is the bastard that hit you! You didn't do anything!!!" Draco said. He had no idea why he was getting so angry, but he didn't care. She was wrong.

Hermione looked up and managed to smile. "Thanks. I really needed to tell someone that." she said quietly for fear of him making a rude, cutting comment.

"Right. No problem. So, are you hungry?" he asked as he got up and walked to where he thought the kitchen would be.

Hermione got up and followed him after saying, "Yeah. I haven't eaten in a while."

When they got in the kitchen, Draco made her bacon and eggs. (Hermione had just bought them yesterday. She was getting tired of soup and T.V. dinners)

They ate in silence and Hermione couldn't stop thinking about how nice Draco started being when he heard that her father beat her….

AN-Now…Enjoy!!!

"Draco?" Hermione asked when she finished her food.

"Hmmm?" he replied as he looked up from his meal.

"Umm, I was wondering if you would tell me what happened to you?"

There was a pause before Draco nodded and said, "Yes." Draco paused again before starting his story. "Well, as you know, my father is a Death Eater." Hermione nodded. "Okay, well…he wanted me to join You-Know-Who and I said no. He was very mad and he used the…an Unforgivable on me." Hermione gasped and her hand flew to her mouth. This slightly puzzled Draco. 'She is so naïve.' He thought before he continued. "It's not that bad. He has done it tons of times before." Again she gasped slightly, buy kept her hand from resuming it's previous position over her mouth. Draco suddenly felt the need to convince her that he was not like his father, so he continued. "The problem this time, was that he was madder than he had ever been before, and the more anger or hate you posses the stronger the curse. It has never been that bad before. He usually put the curse on me for only thirty seconds, but this time he left the curse on for several _minutes_. He has this thing…being the most disgusting, despicable man in the entire wizarding world…he won't lift the curse until I had cried out for him to stop. Then, considering I refuse to give him the satisfaction of watching me beg him to stop, I had to wait until he decided that he had hurt me enough. When he finally lifter the curse, I barely had he strength to move. I knew that if I stayed there, he would force me to join You-Know-Who, so I ran away from him and from that hell hole. After a few minutes of regaining the use of my limbs, I jumped on my broom and started flying. I started feeling lightheaded and then everything went black…I guess you know everything from there." he finished.

Hermione looked horrified. She had no idea what to say. "You actually said no to Voldemort?" she asked finally.

Draco flinched slightly at the name. He saw that there was a distinct fear in her eyes, but there seemed to be something else there too. Could it be admiration… 'No, it must be something else, but what?'

"Yeah." he mumbled.

"Wow, you must be really brave." Hermione said before she was able to stop herself.

Draco looked up and met her eyes once more as his trademark Malfoy smirk covered his face once again. "Do you, the Gryffindor Princess, think that I, the Slytherin King, am brave?" he asked in his normal cocky voice.

Hermione's serene expression suddenly transformed into a deep scowl. "You know what? I think you are just a Slytherin prick and you can forget that I ever said anything that might have came across as a compliment!!!" Hermione yelled as she stood up and headed towards her room.

Draco smirk faded into a frown at her sudden outburst. "Hey, Hermione…I was only joking." he said without thinking as he got up and followed her.

Hermione stopped when she heard his words. She stood with her back to him for a few minutes before turning to face him. "What did you just call me?" she asked.

"Huh?" Draco asked, taken aback by her question.

"You just called me Hermione." she said.

"I did not."

"Yeah you did. You just said 'Hey, Hermione…'"

"So, what if I did."

"Since when did you stop calling me Mudblood?"

Draco just stood there staring at her blankly. Then, after a minute, he said, "Well, maybe since we are living together…we should have a kind of truce or something. I figured that we could at least call each other by their name. We could ever pretend that we never met before…you know like…when you found me…you didn't know me…"

Hermione looked at him in total surprise for a few minutes before she finally decided that it was worth a try. "O-okay."

Draco smirked at her as he closed the distance between them and held out his hand. "My name is Draco Malfoy, what's yours?"

Hermione hesitated for a second before taking his hand and saying, "Hermione, Hermione Granger. It is nice to meet you."

They shook hands quickly, but their hands lingered for just a few seconds longer than needed.

"N-nice to meet you too." Draco said as he took his hand back.

"Now that we officially know each other, what do you want to do?" Hermione asked as she looked around.

"Well, I am kind of hungry." he replied.

Hermione rolled her eyes. "Boys are always hungry." she said as she led the way to the kitchen.

Draco followed her and couldn't help thinking that he liked being nice to her. He tried to shake these thoughts from his head, but he knew that living together would be a lot easier if they weren't constantly yelling at each other.

When Draco entered the kitchen, he found Hermione standing on the counter trying to reach something on top of the refrigerator. Suddenly, her foot slipped on some water and she began to fall. Draco ran over to her and caught her right before she hit the ground. He was amazed at how light she was.

Hermione wrapped her arms around his neck and pressed her eyes tightly shut.

Draco lowered her to the ground when she had finally settled down. "Are you okay?" he asked as his arms still held her to him.

Hermione nodded and gave him a weak smile. "I am just afraid of heights and falling…"

"Well, you are safe now." he said, not realizing that he still had his arms wrapped firmly around her.

"Draco, you have to let me go now." Hermione said as she tried to stifle a laugh.

"Huh?" he asked. Hermione pointed to his arms, and he realized that he had been holding her the entire time. "Oh. Sorry." he mumbled as he let her go.

"So, I was trying to reach this pan on top of the refrigerator…could you get it for me?" she asked in an effort to break the awkward silence.

"Sure." he replied as he easily reached up and grabbed the pan.

"Show off." she said as she gave him a playful punch in the arm.

"Hey, what was that for?" he asked as he handed her the pan.

"Just because….on no!" she said.

"What, what's wrong?" he asked as he looked around her, trying to see what the problem was.

"I forgot. I was supposed to go to the store this morning. We have nothing left." Hermione said in an apologetic voice.

"That's no problem. We can go to the store now" he said as he walked towards the door.

"Draco, you can't go. You aren't health enough." Hermione protested immediately.

"What do you mean? I am perfectly fine. Just like my old self. Let's go." Draco demanded.

"Fine, but I am not carrying you again if you decided to pass out again!" Hermione said as she walked towards the door.

"Fine." he said calmly as he followed her out the door.

"Oh, by the way, it is a very long walk." Hermione said with a smile.

"How long?" Draco asked.

"Long enough. I don't suppose that you are up to jogging?"

"Well, it depends on how far away it is."

"I thought that you were back to your 'old self.'" Hermione said in a mocking tone.

"Very funny. Fine, let's see if you can keep up." Draco said as he took off in a sprint down the street.

"Hermione smirked at him and started her steady pace towards the store.


	5. A Race to the Grocery Store

Chapter 5-

An-I don't have much to say…my life has been really tiring lately…I work everyday (I am a lifeguard at Oceans of Fun) and I play 5 softball games a week. I played on Monday and I sprained my ankle really bad…tears…

Well, enough oh my rambling…on with the story….enjoy!!!!

Last Time on Getting Through

"Oh, by the way, it is a very long walk." Hermione said with a smile.

"How long?" Draco asked.

"Long enough. I don't suppose that you are up to jogging?"

"Well, it depends on how far away it is."

"I thought that you were back to your 'old self.'" Hermione said in a mocking tone.

"Very funny. Fine, let's see if you can keep up." Draco said as he took off in a sprint down the street.

Hermione smirked at him and started her steady pace towards the store.

On with the story…

After about a mile of running, Draco was totally exhausted. He hadn't run as fast as he could, but it was a long distance to do a constant run. He slowed to a slow jog (a very slow jog) and looked around him. Hermione was nowhere in site. He had left her in the dust after just a few seconds of sprinting. 'Where is this stupid store!?' he wondered. 'It can't be _that_ far away!!'

Then he saw Hermione closing in on him from behind. 'Where did she come from?' he wondered as he noticed that she wasn't breathing hard at all. She was also still going at her slow, steady pace.

Draco, not wanting to lose to his former enemy and a girl, sped up again. After just a few minutes, he had lost site of Hermione and was totally out of breath. He slowed down so much that he was almost walking. As the sun beat down on him, he thought that he was going to die from either the heat or the exhaustion of running. He has never been this tired in his entire life. Then, a bench on the side of the road caught his attention. He just couldn't resist the temptation to take a breather. He sat down and put his head between his knees.

Less than a minute later, Draco heard laughter. He looked up just in time to see Hermione disappear over the hill. 'What?!' he wondered as she passed him so easily. 'She didn't even look tired!' he thought. 'Fine, I will let her win. I am going to walk the rest of the way!' he thought stubbornly as he continued his journey to the grocery store.

'Ha ha ha… I told him that is was far.' Hermione thought as she walked up to the store. She paused to catch her breath for a second before entering the store.

"Hi Mr. Carnal!" she said to the elderly man behind the checkout desk.

"Good Afternoon, Miss. Black." he said with a smile. "nice to see you, but I thought that I would be seeing you earlier."

"I was…I just forgot." Hermione replied. 

"Forgot? That doesn't sound like my Katie." he said in a slightly worried tone.

"Well, I slept in this morning…I had a late night with my brother last night." she said easily keeping up the lie that Draco was her brother.

"Well, it is good that you slept in, but what's wrong with your brother? Is he getting worse?" he asked in a half curious half worried tone.

"No, actually he is getting better. He came here with me today, but he kinda got behind. He should be here soon." Hermione replied.

"Oh. Well it will be nice to finally meet this boy who you seem to admire so very much." Hermione blushed.

"Well, he is a great guy. I am really lucky to have a brother like him." Hermione said, faking enthusiasm.

"I am glad that you are able to have someone in your life that you are able to look up to." he said as he bent down and grabbed a brown paper bag full of food. "Here is the stuff you ordered. Will there be anything else?"

"Actually, yeah. I think that I will make my brother something special since he is finally strong again." she said as she began heading towards a near aisle of food.

"What did you say happened to him again?" Mr. Carnal asked.

"He fell when he was rock climbing." she replied as she scowered the aisle for something to fix Draco.

"Oh, yes. I remember now. Sorry, the memory is not what it used to be." he said with a smile as he watched her in her search. "I am glad that he is finally feeling better."

"Me too." Hermione said as she picked up the final item she needed and approached the counter where Mr. Carnal was standing. "I think that is everything I will need." she said and he began ringing the items up.

"I will just be putting this on your tab--" He started, but was cut off when he heard the bell above the door ring.

Both of them turned their heads as an exhausted looking Draco walked through the door.

"Henry! Where have you been?" Hermione said as she ran over to him and embraced him tightly. "Play along." she whispered in his ear so that only he could hear. She grabbed Draco's wrist and pulled him towards her friend. "Now Henry, this is Mr. Carnal. Mr. Carnal, this is my dear brother Henry Black." she said enthusiastically.

"It is very nice to meet you Henry Black. I have heard a lot about you." the elderly man said a she offered a hand to Draco.

Draco, confused, nodded and said, "My pleasure. I have heard a ton about you also."

"Well, I believe that we better get back. Mum and Dad might get worried." Hermione said as she handed the new bag to Draco and went and picked the other, heavier one up herself.

Draco, who had finally caught on, stopped her. "No way, sis. Let me carry that for you." he said as he tired lifting the heavy sack from her arms. When he finally adjusted to the unexpected addition of weight, he headed to the door.

"Why thank you, Henry." Hermione said before turning back to the other man. "Bye Mr. Carnal." she said with a wave.

"Come back soon. You two kids have a great afternoon! Bye Katie, bye Henry!" he hollered after them as they stepped out of the door.

When they were out of earshot, Draco stopped Hermione. "What was that all about and who is Henry and Katie Black?"

"That was my imaginary life and you are Henry and I am Katie." she replied and began walking again.

"Ok, why Henry?"

"I would come in every day and buy two of everything and he was wondering who else I was serving." she started. "One day, he asked. I told him that it was my brother, Henry. Henry just happened to be the first name that I could think of, and Black was Sirius' last name. I was thinking of him at the time." she replied honestly.

"Black is also my mum's maiden name." he provided.

"I know."

"You do?"

"Yep."

"Oh. Ok, next question." Hermione nodded in approval and he continued. "Why did you talk about our 'Mum and Dad'?" he asked.

"I told you. It is my imaginary world, and in my world I would have a mum and a dad that love me and so would you. So, I made them up."

"Ok, one more thing." Hermione stopped and turned to him. "How the hell did you constantly run all the way here and never get tired?!" Hermione laughed

"Draco, I have a little bit of an advantage."

"and what might that be?" he asked

"I have ran all the way here every day since we first got here."

"Oh."

"So, are you ready to race again? I'll give you a head start?" she asked.

"How about we just walk." he suggested.

"no, that won't work. Here let me hold these bags for a second." she said as she grabbed the bags from Draco. "Okay. I am going to run back to the house and start dinner."

"You can't possibly carry both of those sacks all the way backa nd run at the same time!" he said as he tried to grab the bag.

"Watch me." she said before turning and running away.

"Wait--" he yelled, but it was no use. He was still tired from the run to the store, so he gave up and walked back to the cabin.

AN-That's all for now. Sorry so short. I have to get up early tomorrow for work yeah….not!!! Bye…


	6. Arguments

Chapter 6-

Hullo. Today has been a very bad day for me (I got into a bad car accident -nobody got hurt, but my car was totaled-) and I wasn't going to update, but I decided that writing might settle me down a little, so here it goes…

Draco finally reached the cabin about 45 minutes later. He was glad too since he was starving. But Draco was greatly disappointed when he saw that all of the lights were off in the cabin. He took a quick glance at his watch and saw that it was 10:00 at night. 'Damn.' he thought. 'She must have got tired of waiting and went to sleep.' He moaned as the thought of him having to cook something for himself crossed his mind. He had never even went into a kitchen before. 'Great! Just great!' he concluded as he reached the house and walked in. (Hermione had left the door unlocked)

Draco was about to just go to his room and go to bed, but something caught his eyes. It seemed to be a dim light coming from near the kitchen. He walked toward the light and saw that the dinning room was illuminated by candle light. The table was set with two plates and there was a vase with lilacs in it. The smell hit his nose and he smiled. Then, he saw that on one of the plates there was a piece of parchment. He walked to it and picked it up.

__

Draco,

I decided that since I tricked you into running so far and I made you help me in a lie to Mr. Carnal, that I would make you a nice dinner. I am, as you read this, changing my clothes. You might want to do the same (since you did run so far and I am sure the heat made you sweat) Dinner will be promptly at 10:30. Do not be late, or I will eat it all and you will go hungry.

Until dinner,  
Hermione Anne Granger.

Draco was confused for a moment, but then he couldn't prevent the smile that was breaking out on his face. Then a thought crossed his mind. 'What should I wear?' he thought. "Is it supposed to be formal? I didn't really bring a lot of nice clothes. I guess I will just wear something neutral.' he decided before scurrying off to his room to freshen up.

At 10:30, Draco walked into the dining room and took a seat at the table. The food was already there. It was steak, mashed potatoes, and corn. It smelled great and Draco could barely contain himself. His stomach wanted nothing more than to start gobbling down the food in front of him, but his pureblood manners made him wait for Hermione.

It was well worth the wait for Draco because when Hermione appeared in the doorway, Draco totally forgot about being hungry. Hermione was wearing a blood-red sundress that went down to her mid-thigh and red, heeled flip-flops. She had pulled her hair back into an elegant French braid leaving a few curly strand down to frame her face.

Draco stared at her for several minutes, causing Hermione to blush deep crimson, before mentally slapping himself. When he regained himself, he stood and moved to pull out the chair for her. "You look very nice, Hermione." he said politely, knowing that the word nice was nowhere near the word that he wanted to say. Something more like 'ravishing' would fit better, but he couldn't say that to her. This was Mudblood Granger! He couldn't have these thoughts about her. They hated each other…well not exactly hate. They did have that truce, right?

"Thank you. You look…nice too." she said awkwardly as she took the offered seat with a smile.

"This," he started, gesturing to the neatly prepared table and food, "looks great!!"

"Thanks," she said, blushing slightly. "I thought that it would be a nice break from the T.V. dinners that we have been having every night."

Meanwhile, Draco was staring at his food longingly.

Hermione noticed this and couldn't keep the smile off of her face as Draco, her archenemy, reminded her so much of her two best friends, Harry and Ron. 'All men are always hungry.' she thought right before saying, "Well, lets eat then."

Draco nodded eagerly and began eating immediately.

They ate in silence.

When they were finally finished eating, Hermione stood up to clear the dishes. Draco noticed this and promptly got up and helped her. They carried the dishes into the kitchen where Hermione began running dishwater. As the water began foaming, Draco asked what he could do to help.

"Umm, why don't you dry while I wash?" she responded as she handed him a clean towel.

"Okay."

When they were finished, Draco turned to Hermione once again. "Thank you for dinner. It was great."

Hermione smiled at the compliment. "You're welcome, Draco. I am very glad that you liked it. I got burned when I was grilling the steak, so I am glad that it was worth it." she said.

Draco smirked at her and said, "I never would have thought that a muggle could have made food as good as a wizard." he joked.

Hermione's smile disappeared and was replaced by a deep frown. "What? Just because they aren't _pureblood _wizards like you, they can't do things just as good?!!" she yelled.

"Huh?"

"You just can't escape your pureblood prince ways, can you?"

"Hermione, I---"

"No, forget it. See if I _ever_ do anything nice for you again!!!"

"Wait." he said as he grabbed her arm to ensure that she wouldn't leave.

"LET GO OF ME!!!!" she said in a low growl.

"No, not until you hear me out! I was only joking. I thought that we were friends…"

"FRIENDS? Friends? How can you be friends with a stupid, ugly MUDBLOOD like me??" she yelled as she tried to pry her arm from his tight grasp.

Draco froze at her words. 'Mudblood? They sound so wrong, so bad coming out of her mouth.' he thought, but was brought back to reality by the sound of her voice.

"You have always tried your hardest to prove that I don't belong in the wizarding world over these past years." she began in a quiet, hurt voice. "Then I thought that things were beginning to change. I thought that maybe you were looking past my family, but I guess I was wrong. You will NEVER get past you heartless, pureblood nature!!!!!!"

"Look, **_Granger_**. I am not just a heartless pureblood! Things have changed. I have changed. I am _not_ my father."

"Right, Malfoy. You are an exact copy of your father!" she retorted.

'No." Draco thought. 'I don't want to be my father.' Suddenly, he felt the need to prove it to her. So, he did the only thing that he could think of. He pulled her close to him and pressed his lips to her in a deep kiss.

Hermione was too shocked to move. She just stood there and let him kiss her, but she didn't kiss him back.

Then, Draco pulled away and held her at an arms length. He watched her carefully to gage her reaction. She blinked a few times, but that was it. She just stared at him blankly, anger forgotten.

Draco cleared his throat and licked his lips.

Hermione, who finally snapped out of her stupor, said, "Why did you do that?"

Draco didn't know what to say. 'Why did I do that?' he asked himself. 'I couldn't…like her, could I?' Draco brushed that thought off immediately. "I don't know. Maybe we should just go to bed and talk in the morning."

Hermione nodded and turned to leave. "night." Draco called to her.

"Night." she replied as she closed the door.

'Why did he kiss me? Why didn't I stop him?' these question continued echoing in her mind as the night progressed. But one question haunted her the most, 'I couldn't…like him, could I?'

Both Draco and Hermione had a very restless night as they tried to figure out their feeling for each other. They only finally got rest when they decided that it was not liking but hormones that attracted them to each other. There was no _real_ attraction.

AN- Well, that's all. Until next time. (I am going to try to update one of my stories tomorrow.)

Lots of love to all of my wonderful reviewers…..Love ya,

Gotta Love Drakie

I love TOM FELTON!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


	7. Awkwardness and Letters

Chapter 7-

AN- Hullo. I'm back again!! Hope you like it.

This chapter Is dedicated to one of my reviewers whose birthday just passed (the 12th I think)… **_jenjen147._** HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!! Congrats on turning 16!!! I will be 18 in August!!!

On with the story…

__

Last Time

'Why did he kiss me? Why didn't I stop him?' these question continued echoing in her mind as the night progressed. But one question haunted her the most, 'I couldn't…like him, could I?'

Both Draco and Hermione had a very restless night as they tried to figure out their feeling for each other. They only finally got rest when they decided that it was not liking but hormones that attracted them to each other. There was no real attraction.

The next morning, Hermione got up early to take a shower. She was showered and dressed before Draco even left his room. She walked into the kitchen to make breakfast. She decided to make her favorite breakfast, pigs in a blanket.

Draco, who had been awake for quite a while, listened to the shower go on and off. He wanted to get up, but he couldn't think of what to say to her. He couldn't possibly just go out there and say, "Hey, Hermione. I just wanted you to know that I don't like you. I just kissed you because of my raging hormones." 'Yep,' thought Draco. 'That would definitely not be the right thing to say.'

As he was contemplating this, the faint smell of sausages flooded the room. His stomach rumbled at the thought of breakfast, so he decided to get up. He showered quickly and got dressed.

He walked into the kitchen ten minutes later, looking as put together as always. He saw Hermione by the stove cooking pancakes and sausages. 'What to say, what to say?' he asked himself over and over. "G'mornin'" he said finally.

"Good morning." she replied without turning to face him.

"So, d-did you…sleep well?" he asked, awkwardly.

"Yeah, fine. You?" she replied, still not turning to him.

"Great. I slept great." he replied only to leave the room in complete silence. "So, what'cha makin'?" he asked in a effort to start a conversation.

"Pigs in a Blanket." she replied without explanation.

"Wha?"

"Pigs in--"

"--I heard what you said." he said, cutting her off. "What is it?"

"It's sausages wrapped in pancakes. They taste great together." she answered, finally looking at him for a few seconds before turning back to the stove.

"Oh." Draco said, beginning another awkward silence. After a few minutes, he couldn't take it anymore. He put his Malfoy pride aside and said, "Look, I am sorry about yesterday. I didn't mean to insult you."

Hermione turned to him once again. She scanned his eyes for and insincerity but found none. She smiled and nodded. "It's okay. I overreacted. I guess I am just not used to having you as something other than an enemy."

'Something?' thought Draco. 'What does that mean? Maybe she liked the kiss yesterday? No, that couldn't be it. Maybe she doesn't consider me her friend just not an enemy.'

"Draco, are you listening?" Hermione asked after a few seconds of trying to get his attention.

"Wha? Sorry. What did you say?" he asked.

"I was saying, why don't you go sit down and I will bring your food to you in a minute."

"Oh. Okay." he said and he went in the dining room to wait.

After that day, Hermione and Draco were both trying desperately to figure out their feelings and what the other person thought of them. They never mentioned the kiss, but both of them wanted to talk about it.

Draco tried to forget that it happened, but he found himself wanting to feel those soft lips on his more and more often. They would be talking about school, books, life, family…and he would find himself wanting to just pull her close and press his lips to hers. He tired blaming it on hormones, but he knew that there was a lot more to it than just hormones. After a few more days with Hermione, he finally admitted to himself that he was crushing on his archenemy's best friend, Hermione 'Mudblood' Granger.

Hermione tried to forget about the kiss too, but she also found it impossible. It haunted her day and night. She knew she was starting to like Draco 'Ferret Boy' Malfoy. Not only was he hott, but he was smart, sweet (when he wanted to be), rich (not that she cared), and he understood her problems. He listened to her and let her cry on his shoulder and she couldn't stop the feeling that welled inside her no matter how hard she tried to push them away. She also loved talking to him. He had a mind of his own and liked to talk about things other than Quidditch (Unlike Harry and Ron.) The thought of her two best friends made her want to talk to them, so she decided to owl them.

She got out a parchment and a quill, but couldn't find the words to say. She didn't know if she wanted to tell them about her father or about the fact that she was alone. She definitely didn't want to tell them that she was alone with their number one enemy. 'Maybe I shouldn't write them after all. Wait, I don't have an owl, so I can't write them anyway.' she thought as she began to put away the ink.

Just then, Draco walked in. "What'cha doing, 'Mione?" he asked.

"My name is HER-mione!" she said. He had started saying that because it irritated her. "And, I was going to write a letter to Harry and Ron, but I don't have an owl."

"I have one." he said.

"No it--you do? How came I have never seen it?" she asked.

"Well, he's not a people person. He followed me here. You can use him. He only likes people that I trust." he said with a smile. "Go ahead, write your letter and I'll go get him."

"Oh, okay." she said as she tried to decided what to write.

__

Dear Harry and Ron,

Sorry that I haven't written you guys yet this summer. It has been a kind of bad summer for me. My mum died and my dad has sort of violent ways of handling his pain. He also drinks a lot.

I was forced to run away a couple weeks into the summer. I am staying with an old friend and I think it is best if I stay here for a little while. I am trying to keep under wraps so that my father won't find me.

Use this owl to write back if you want to write back. He knows where I am.

Love, Hermione

When she was finished, she handed the parchment to Draco who immediately rolled it up out of respect for her privacy.

"You can read it if you like." she said after he made the kind gesture.

He nodded and read the letter. He was kind of disappointed at the 'old friend' part, but didn't let it show. He out on his normal Malfoy smirk and said, "Old friend?"

"Uh, yeah. I didn't think that it was best to tell them about you seeing as they hate you. They might get worried about me and try to find me." she replied awkwardly.

"Oh. That's probably for the best. I am kind of hiding from my father too." he said with a smile. He then, rolled up the parchment and tied it to his owls leg. "Where do I send it?"

"It's called the Burrow."

"Typical--Sorry?"

Hermione smiled. "It's okay."

"Alright Xavier, take this to a place called the Burrow. Can you find it?" he said to his owl, who hooted in response before flying out an open window.

_Hermione,_

It was good to hear from you, but I am sorry about everything that has happened to you over the summer. I wish I could be there for you. Your father actually beats_ you? I don't understand hoe any parent could do that. I wish you could come stay here with me. I really miss you. You are always welcome here. Owl me if you need anything._

Love, Ron

P.S. Harry's not here. He is staying at Hogwarts for the rest of the summer. You-Know-Who's pets killed the Dursleys a couple weeks ago. He isn't sad or anything, but Dumbledore wanted him to be safe at Hogwarts anyway. I sent your note to him. You should be getting a letter form him as well.

P.P.S. Who's owl is this anyway? It bit me like fifty times already!! It seems like the spawn of Ferret Boy.

P.P.S.S. Ginny says 'Hi' and she misses you a lot.

Hermione smiled. 'Ron is so sweet.' she thought. 'Poor Harry. At Hogwarts all alone. Well, not for long. Ron, Ginny and I will be joining him soon.' Hermione's thoughts were suddenly cut short when she heard a knock at the door.

'Who could that be?' she wondered as she headed towards the door. 'Oh, it must be Draco. I know I told him not to forget the key before he went to the grocery store.' Hermione reached the door and pulled it open…


	8. Draco to the rescue

Chapter 8-

Read and Review!!!

__

Hermione's thoughts were suddenly cut short when she heard a knock at the door.

'Who could that be?' she wondered as she headed towards the door. 'Oh, it must be Draco. I know I told him not to forget the key before he went to the grocery store.'

"Draco, I told you a million times to grab the key before you leave." she said as she walked to the door. She reached for the knob and opened it with a smile. She was fully prepared to see a certain forgetful Slytherin standing outside, but it was not Draco.

"D-daddy?" she said in a trembling voice. Her dad stood in front of her with an evil glint in his eye. She knew automatically that he was drunk and very angry.

"Who is Draco, sweetheart?" he asked in a fake caring voice as he shoved his way into the room.

"No-no one, daddy." she stuttered.

"Don't lie to me!!" he said as he pulled his hand back and struck her on her left cheek. Hermione's hand flew to her cheek and tears welled in her eyes. "Now tell me who this Draco is!!"

"He-he's this guy…" she began, but was cut off by another hard blow to the face.

"YOU SLUT!!!!" he yelled. "You think that you can run away with me and go live with some _guy?!!!_"

"No-no, it's not that…I-I…"

"Spit it out!!!" he said as he pushed her to the floor where she landed with a hard thud.

"I f-found him all b-beaten up s-so I brought him he-here so that he c-could get b-better." she said quickly as she tired to move out of his reach.

"_LIAR!!!!!!_" he yelled as he kicked her in her chest with all his might.

Hermione was now bleeding and tears were flowing down her cheeks as she curled up into a little ball and cowered away from her father.

The room was silent for a moment and Hermione thought that he might have left, so she risked a glance up to where he had been standing. He was still there, but the expression on his face had changed some how. He didn't look angry any more. The look in his eyes looked like lust. That's when it hit her. He was going to rape her.

He began approaching her and she tried to get away, but she was already against a wall. "You know, you are a very pretty girl. Even if you are a freak!" he said as he bent down in front of her and pulled her to her feet. "It's been a long time since your mother left us, and I have been awful lonely." He said as if he was just having a normal father-daughter conversation. As he was saying this, he dragged her towards her bedroom. When they got there he threw her on the bed and jumped on top of her.

Bu now, Hermione was whimpering and trying to make herself invisible. "Don't do this, daddy…" she said, but he wasn't listening. He was in the process of ripping her shirt apart.

"Make one more noise and I will kill you and your little Draco too." he said in a dangerously low whisper as he pulled out a knife and dragged the blade along her skin, making shallow and deep cuts all over her.

Hermione winced in pain and her eyes widened at the thought of him killing Draco. She didn't need to think about it. She would let him do this to her to save Draco. Why? She didn't know, but she did know that she wouldn't let this man cause others pain the way he has to her.

Hermione nodded to him and tried to think about other things. Soon, they were both down to only their underwear and Hermione had several deep cuts all over her body from where her cut off her clothes without bothering to miss the skin underneath. And, as nausea swept through her body, she could feel his hardness press against her thigh. All Hermione could think about now was, 'This will all be over soon…'

Then, right as he was getting ready to remove what was left of her clothing, she felt him being lifted from her. She cracked open her eyes and saw no one. Then, she heard it, "_Petrificus Totalus_!!"

She looked in the direction of the voice and saw Draco putting a full body bind on her father. She smiled before slipping out of consciousness.

When Hermione awoke, she immediately knew that she was in her parents summer cabin, but didn't know why. So, she tried to sit up. This only caused her extreme pain, so she laid back down. 'Why am I here. The last thing I remember is…the cabin with Draco and…' she thought, then suddenly all of the memories of the previous events came flooding back to her. 'My father…knives…body bind…Draco!!'

She suddenly felt alone and sacred, so she did the only thing that she could think of, "DRACO!!!" she cried.

Then, as if by magic, he appeared next to her. "Hermione? Oh thank Merlin!!!!!" he said as he grabbed her and hugged her tightly.

Hermione cried into his shoulder and held him tightly. "Oh, Draco. Thank Merlin you came…he was going to…" she trailed off.

"I know, I know. But it's over now, and you are safe." he said as he placed a soothing kiss on her forehead.

"Where is…he?" she asked after a few long minutes of silence.

"I contacted Dumbledore and he came and took care of your father." he said.

"Oh."

"He also sent Madame Pomfrey to heal you."

"Oh." she said quietly before looking into his eyes and saying, "He said he was going to kill you if I said or did anything to stop him."

Draco looked at her, shocked, for a second before opening his mouth to speak, but Hermione cut him off.

"I couldn't let him. I would have let him kill me if it would have saved your life." she whispered, avoiding his eyes.

"Why?" he asked.

Hermione didn't answer at first, but she knew what the answer was. Finally she said, "because I…care about you…"

Draco was taken aback. 'This isn't possible. We are supposed to hate each other, aren't we?' he wondered. Then it came to him, 'I care about her too.'

Hermione took his silence as if he didn't reciprocate her feelings and so she said, "I-I just wanted you to know. You don't have to feel the same way or anything…"

"I do." he said quietly.

"What?" she said when he interrupted her rant.

"I care about you too." he said as he looked into her eyes.

Hermione looked into his eyes for any sign of a lie, but when she found none she smiled. Then, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. "Now, you better get some sleep. You aren't fully healed yet." he said as he stood and walked out of the room with the biggest grin on his face.


	9. the Unexpected

AN-Hum...I think it is time to mix things up a bit... ::evil laugh:: ::giggles:: Enjoy!!!

Last Time

__

"I care about you too." he said as he looked into her eyes.

Hermione looked into his eyes for any sign of a lie, but when she found none she smiled. Then, he leaned in and placed a kiss on her lips. "Now, you better get some sleep. You aren't fully healed yet." he said as he stood and walked out of the room with the biggest grin on his face.

Hermione was walking down a street that she didn't recognize. She tried to find something that she would recognize, but there was nothing. The street was totally deserted except for a few homeless people asleep in trashcans or boxes by the road. 'What is going on? How did I get here? Where _is_ here?' Hermione asked herself over and over again as she frantically searched for anything that would spark something in her mind.

Then, she heard movement coming from an alley next to her. She froze and slowly turned to see if anything would appear out of the dark alleyway. When nothing happened, she decided to continue moving. At a slightly faster pace she resumed her search for something familiar. She walked a few more yards before she heard it again. It sounded like footsteps coming from behind her. This time she froze but she didn't turn around. She just stood still, staring her ears incase she heard the footsteps again.

She did this for several minutes before once again telling herself that she was just imagining things and continuing her walk. Then, out of nowhere, she felt arms grab her. One covered her mouth, the other wrapped tightly around her waist. She tried to scream, but she found it completely useless. The only people around to hear were those homeless people who had glared at her as she passed their makeshift shanties.

The person that had a hold of her, suddenly began to drag her towards the dark alley he had came from. She struggled with all her might, but found it impossible. When the man reached his destination, he spun her around and held her tightly against a brick wall. Hermione, gathering all of the courage she could muster, looked up into the face of her captor only to have to force down a scream when she saw who it was. "No..." she whispered. Her words weren't audible, but the fear in her eyes gave her away.

"What's wrong baby? Don't you love your daddy anymore?" said the man.

"Please leave me alone." she said in the steadiest voice she could manage.

"Ah, baby. Come here and give your old man a kiss." he said as he leaved towards her, hands positioned on either side of her body.

Hermione turned her face away so that his kiss landed on her cheek. 'No...Draco...help...' she thought desperately as she saw fury glaze over her fathers eyes. She closed her eyes tightly and prepared herself for the pain that she knew was coming. She stood there for a minute before she realized that his weight was no longer pressed against her. She slowly opened her eyes to see Draco standing over her father with his wand raised. He said something that Hermione was unable to hear, but she knew exactly what he had said as a bright green light lit up the dark alley. Hermione squeezed her eyes shut until the light had faded. Then, she opened them to see her fathers lifeless body sprawled on the pavement and Draco walking cautiously towards her.

She stared blankly from one to the other for a few seconds before falling into Draco's arms. "Hermione, are you alright? Did he....do...anything to you??" Draco asked as he gently rubbed circles on her back.

"I ok. Since you got here." she said in barely a whisper. "I am so glad you came, Draco..."

Draco smiled down at her before slowly leaning toward her...

Suddenly Hermione shot straight up in her bed. She was sweating and there were dried tears on her cheeks, but there was a smile pasted on her face. She closed her eyes and reminisced in the dream, but this was cut short when she heard an "Umm hum" coming from next to her. She opened her eyes and saw Draco sitting on the edge of the bed with a puzzled expression on his face and a wet towel in his hand.

After a few seconds of silence, Draco said, "I came in and you are screaming and crying, so I tried to wake you up, but you wouldn't wake. I went into the kitchen to get a wet towel to clean your face and I come back and you are smiling like it's Christmas. What happened?"

Hermione didn't know what to say. She couldn't tell him that she had been dreaming about him rescuing her. He'd freak out. "Huh? Oh, I'm fine. I just had a nig--I just had a dream. That's, that's all." she replied.

"What do you mean a dream. You were kicking and screaming one minute and the next you seemed like you couldn't be happier. What was the dream about?" Draco asked.

"Well, it started out bad, but it turned out good," she said, "but thanks for coming to my rescue."

Draco half-smiled. He knew she was hiding something, but he decided he would accept it for now and ask again later. "Well, if you are sure that you are ok, I guess I will leave." he said as he got up to leave.

Hermione, who didn't want him to leave said, "Well, the dream did kind of freak me out. Would you mind terribly staying here for a little while? We can talk"

"Sure," Draco said as he sat back down on her bed. "What do you want to talk about?"

"I don't know. Any suggestions?"

"I dunno either." he said as he tried to get comfortable.

Hermione noticed this and scooted over. "Here. It's a king size bed, we can both lay down." she said as she gestured for him to lay down next to her. Draco hesitated, but decided that it couldn't hurt and he laid down next to her.

Soon, they were deep in conversation. After talking for a few minutes Hermione's body gave an involuntary shudder from cold.

"Are you cold?" he asked.

"N-no." she said through chattering teeth.

"Yes you are." he said as he opened his arms and gestured for her to enter the warmth of his embrace. She hesitated, but when he said, "Come on," she moved into his arms quickly. "How's that?"

Hermione made a small sound of content before relaxing against his chest. 'Nothing could be more perfect than this.' she thought right before she fell into the most incredible sleep she had ever had.

Draco laid there with this girl in his arms, taking in her scent and could only think one thing, 'Nothing could be more perfect than this. I think that I am in...' With that last thought, he drifted off into a wonderful sleep.

__

Knock Knock

Hermione woke with a start when she heard a knock at the door. 'Who could that be?' she wondered as she got up from the bed. 'Wait, where did Draco go?' she wondered as she walked out of the room. Then she heard the shower running and solved that mystery, but she still didn't know who was at the door.

Hermione slowly approached the door and was about to open it before pausing. 'What if it is my dad, or worse...Draco's...' with that thought she sidestepped to look out the window and saw none other than a certain tall red-haired Weasley. She went and opened the door without a second thought.

"Hermione!!" Ron said as she held the door open for him.

"Hey Ron. What are you---" Hermione was cut off when she saw Ron's eyes nearly pop out of his head. "What is it..." she began as she followed his eyes to the bathroom door, but she trailed off when she saw Draco standing there in nothing but a towel.

"Malfoy?!!??" Ron yelled before turning to Hermione. "Oh, I see what is going on here," he began "Oh Ron, my dad is beating me and I am in hiding. But don't try to find me, he might follow you." he mimicked in a high voice.

"Ron, let me explain. It's not what it looks like..." Hermione said, but Ron wasn't paying attention.

"So, you wanted to get me and Harry feelin' all sorry for you while you were out here **_SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY!!!!!!!!_**" he yelled.

"No, it's not like that..." Hermione tried once again, but it was no use. Ron just continued ranting.

"How could you, Hermione?? You betrayed me and H-Harry...and m-me. Hermione you betrayed **_ME!!!!_**"

Hermione opened her mouth to explain, but the pain in his voice left her speechless. "R-Ron...I-I...."

"NO!!! I came here to save you because you said that you were in trouble, but what did I find? I find that you aren't in trouble. In fact you are quite all right, you just didn't want us to come because you were having some freaky relationship with **_MALFOY!!!_**"

"No Ron...It's not like that!!!" Hermione said, as a last attempt to reason with him, but he wasn't listening.

"Well fine then. Me and Harry don't need you anyway!!!"

"IT'S HARRY AND I!!" Hermione yelled back as anger was mounting inside of her. "And I didn't do anything!!!"

Ron scoffed and walked away. When he was halfway down the drive he turned back to her. "You know what you are? You are just a stupid, Slytherin WHORE!!!" With that, he mounted his broom and flew off.

As Ron disappeared into the clouds, Hermione broke down. She fell to her knees in the doorway and cried. Draco, not knowing what to do, picked her up and carried her to the couch. He sat down and she encircled his neck tightly and dried into his chest.

"It's OK. I am sure that he is just a little shocked. Don't worry. "Draco said as he ran his fingers through her silky hair. 'Wait. Did I just try to save the Dream Team?' he wondered. 'No, I just don't want Hermione to cry. She _is _my friend after all.'

"No, I don't want to talk to him ever again!!!" Hermione said suddenly. "He called me a...and he wouldn't even listen to me!! I mean there isn't even anything going on between us. We're just friends.

At these words Draco's heart sank. 'Nothing...' Draco, who had never been rejected by a girl before, didn't know how to deal with this. So, he handled it the only way he knew how. "Fine." he said as he pushed her off of his lap onto the couch and stood up. "You know what? You are just a stupid whiny Gryffindor!! I can't believe I thought that we could actually be friends!! You are a whiny MUDBLOOD!!! And you don't _deserve _to _have anything_ with a Pureblood like me!! I can't believe that I have been so blind. Maybe my dad is right. All Muggles and Mudbloods are just filthy and worthless!!" He yelled before stomping to his room and slamming the door.

Hermione, who had been taken by surprise by his sudden outburst, sat there for a few seconds with her mouth open as his words sank in. When it finally hit her she began to cry harder than ever before. 'Oh god, oh god, oh god...' she thought as tears soaked the couch cushion below her. 'Ron thinks I betrayed him and Harry is going to think the same. And now Draco hates her and thinks that she is a filthy piece of trash. I am all alone.'

She sat there crying for several minutes before making a decision. 'I have to get out of here. I don't care what happens to me. My father can find me and kill me, I don't care. I just have to get out of here.' she thought as she got her things together and trued to figure out where to go.

When she stepped outside, she saw a big, brown barn owl flying towards her. It landed on her shoulder and held out it's leg. Hermione took the letters and petted the owl a couple of times before it took flight. She looked down at the letters and saw that they were hers and Draco's Hogwarts letters. She opened hers and read...

__

Dear Miss. Granger,

I am pleased to inform you that you have been selected to remain a prefect this year, but we have decided to change some things around about the way that prefects are situated. So, we are going to have a meeting in Dumbledore's office directly after the feast on September the 1st.

Enclosed is a list of books you will be needing for this term.

Deputy Headmistress,  
Minerva McGonogall

Sixth Year students will be needing the following books for this year.....

Hermione looked up from her letter and thought about it for a minute. 'I guess I will at least have something to take up my time now that I have no friends.' she thought sarcastically as she sat down her stuff and went into the kitchen and sat Draco's letter and her envelope down on the table. She scribbled a quick note on the back of hers before stuffing her letter and book list in her pocket and walking outside once again. 'I will just go to Hogwarts a little early. Maybe I can get to Harry before Ron does.' she thought as she determinably walked to the road where she would take the Knight Bus to Hogwarts.

Draco was pissed. 'How could she do that to me? I allowed her to like me and I even let myself open up to her!! I can't stay here anymore. I am going to go...somewhere! Plus, school starts in a week. I can just go there or rent a hotel or something.' he decided as he too gathered up his stuff and then waited for a little while. After a while of silence, he walked out into the living room and took a quick glance around. Hermione was no where to be found. He quietly sat his stuff down and tip-toed to her room to see if she was asleep. When he got there, however, he found that the room had been cleaned out and Hermione was nowhere to be seen. 'She left?' he wondered as he looked in the rest of the house. When he got to the Kitchen he saw the letters sitting on the table. He saw that they were his and Hermione's Hogwarts letters. Except Hermione's was empty. Then, he saw that there was writing on the back of hers.

__

Malfoy,

I am only writing to tell you that I am leaving. ( not that you care or anything) I am going to go to school early. I also wanted to say that this summer never happened. After this moment I am never going to think about you again and I am going to continue hating you just like I always have. I refuse to let you hurt me anymore, so please feel free to continue calling me what you will. It will fall upon deaf ear. I don't care about you and I don't need you or anyone else for tat matter. Goodbye forever, Granger

'Fine. I don't care about what happens to her anyway. I'll just stay here. As long as she is not here, I see no reason for me not to stay.' he thought before stuffing his letter into his pocket and going to put his things back in his room.


	10. Crushing Days

Chapter 10-

AN-Sorry for all of those who wanted more Hermione-Draco action, but I didn't want it to be that easy. I dunno where this story is going. I am just kinda taking it one step at a time. So, you will just have to stick around and see if they can rebuild what little bit of a relationship they had or if it isn't possible anymore….Enjoy…

Hermione finally finished the long walk to the nearest road and pulled out her wand. She raised it in the air and within seconds the Knight Bus appeared in front of her.

Stan stepped out and smiled at her. "'Ave a good vacation, did you?"

Hermione nodded and smiled back. It was a fake smile because inside she wanted nothing more than to hide somewhere and cry herself to sleep, but he looked convinced and took her trunk. She climbed in and told Earl, the driver, that she wanted to get to Diagon Alley. She went to the back of the bus and laid down on a bed in a dark corner as the bus took off at an alarming speed. She fell back onto the bed and tears immediately filled her eyes. 'Why is everybody doing this to me?' she wondered as silent tears streamed from her deep brown eyes onto her pillow.

After what seemed like hours, the bus screeched to a stop and Stan said, "Diagon Alley!!"

Hermione got up and wiped her face before walking to the door and exiting the bus. "Bye, missy." Stan said as the door closed and the bus disappeared into the night.

"Bye." Hermione whispered before turning towards the entrance to the Leakey Cauldron. "Well, here goes nothing." she muttered as she walked up to the door and pushed it open. She went straight through the bar to the room with the brick wall entrance to Diagon Alley. She tapped the bricks in a certain order and the wall moved aside to reveal a crowded street full of witches and wizards shopping.

She walked towards a great big white building at the end of the street called, Gringots. It was the wizarding bank. She walked inside and right up to the front desk. The goblin behind the counter said, "What do you want?" in a rather unfriendly voice.

"I need to make a withdrawal." she said bravely.

"Gidget!!!" the goblin yelled and another goblin appeared immediately. This goblin was smaller and looked like a girl. She had a little bit of hair that hung down past her jaw bone and her fingernails were painted black. "Vault 1127!!"

Gidget bowed and led the way through a door on their left. Soon, they were racing through a maze of vaults. When the car finally came to a stop, Hermione had to hold the side to get her bearings before she could stand.

"Key." said Gidget in a higher more friendly voice.

"Oh, yeah." Hermione said as she pulled a small skeleton key out of her pocket and handed it to the goblin. Gidget opened the vault and stood back so that Hermione could get in. Hermione collected a few handfuls of Galleons, Sickles, and Knuts and left the vault.

Back out on the street, she bought the necessary books, some new robes, and a silver and white spotted owl. 'I can't believe I gave my cat to Sirius. I still miss him, and I don't even know what happened to him after Sirius died. Poor Sirius…' she thought as she admired the owl. After looking at it for a while, she decided to name it, Triton.

When she was finished shopping, she went back out side and held her wand up once again. The Knight Bus appeared within seconds and once again the doors flung open and Stan stepped out. "Well, hey there, Missy. Missed us, did ya?"

"I need to get to Hogsmeade." she said as she boarded the bus once again. She was about to head back to her seat on the bus when Stan said something that stopped her in her tracks. "Yeah, we j'st dropped a boy off 'ere a few 'ours ago. 'E told us to come back for 'im at ten. It's fifteen till now, so we are gonna wait for 'im and then we'll set off."

"A b-boy?" Hermione asked as she turned around. "Who was it?"

"Some blond kid. 'E is going to Hogsmeade too 's a matter a fact. Ya know 'im?"

"Nope." Hermione said quickly before walking up the stairs to the third floor and sitting on a bed. 'I'll just wait a few minutes when they get to our stop so that I won't run into him.' she thought before falling into an uncomfortable sleep.

Draco walked towards the Leaky Cauldron in a fowl mood. He was lugging all his new school things and thinking about the days events. 'I can't believe that the Leaky Cauldron has no rooms!!! Now I have no choice but to go to Hogsmeade and see if I can find something there.' Suddenly he heard a bill chime. 'What? It can't be ten already.' he thought as he took off running towards the street outside the Leaky Cauldron.

Soon, he came to a stop in front of the Knight Bus. Stan stepped out and said, "I'll get those things fer yeh." With that, he grabbed the packages from Draco and stepped aside so he could board.

"How long will it take to get to Hogsmeade?" Draco asked without turning to look at Stan.

"Well, we got several stops to make on the way, so it'll prolly be around 8 tomorra morning" Stan replied.

"Fine. I am going to get some sleep. Is anyone on the top floor?" he asked. "I want peace and quiet."

"Well, there's one. S'es sleepin' right now."

"Good, wake me up when we arrive, will you?"

"Sure."

Draco nodded and headed up the stairs. He felt mentally and physically exhausted and was ready to sleep. When he reached the top floor he collapsed on the first bed he saw. He didn't even realize or care that Hermione was sleeping only feet away from him.

12:45am…

Draco was startled awake when he heard something. He sat straight up and looked around him for the source of the sound. When he heard nothing he got ready to lay back down, but just before his head hit the pillow he heard it again. It was a cry from a woman.

"NO! Don't!!! Please leave me alone!!" the voice yelled. Draco immediately recognized the voice immediately, it was none other than the one he had been trying to get away from…Hermione.

Draco's immediate reaction was to go to her and help her, but he only got about a foot when he remembered the fight that they had had earlier. 'There isn't even anything going on between us.' said her voice in his head. He stopped in his tracks, debating whether or not to go to her. His Slytherin side was telling him that she doesn't deserve him, but his other side wanted to go her and help her.

Then, she spoke again. "Draco…How could you?? I thought you cared about me." She mumbled between sobs.

_Dream_

Hermione was sitting on Draco's lay crying. Ron had just broken her heart and she was hoping for comfort in the arms of the man she had grown to like, maybe even love. She was incoherently mumbling things when suddenly his face went blank. He shoved her off of his lap and moved away. Hermione landed with a dull thud on the hard wood floor as him sudden change of mood was sinking in.

"Draco, What…"

"You are just a stupid, filthy Mud blood!! You don't deserve_ a Pureblood like me!!!" he yelled. Then he reached down, grabbed her by the arm, and none to gently pulled her to her feet._

"Stop." She said, her voice shaking with fear. This was all to familiar, but Draco was supposed to be her savior not her attacker. 'He had promised never to hurt me, so why is he doing this.' she wondered somewhere in the back of her mind.

"I HATE YOU!!" he yelled as he raised his hand and struck her.

Hermione's hand flew to her cheek as she staggered from the strength of his blow. Tears began to flow harder as she backed away shaking her head. This didn't make sense…

"Draco, how could you?? I thought you cared about me…" Hermione choked out as he advanced on her.

"I never_ cared about _you_!!!'" he said as he laughed. Then, he raised his hand and struck her again. "I can't _stand_ you." he said as he pushed her against the wall. Where he pinned her by pressing the length of his body against her and holding her hands over her head._

"Please stop. Don't be like our fathers. Please, Draco, don't hit me anymore." she pleaded with him as the tears continued to cascade down her cheeks.

"Quit whining!!" he yelled before violently pressing his lips to her, just as her father had done dozens of times before. He pressed so hard that she was forced to open her mouth. He took this as an invitation to slide his tongue into her mouth.

Hermione paniced and did the only thing that she could think of, she bit down as hard as she could. When she tasted blood, she let go. Draco pulled back and his hands flew to his mouth as he howled in pain. Hermione took this opportunity to run for her life. Unfortunately, Draco's Quidditch-trained body was much quicker than hers and he caught her before she had even reached the door. He tackled her and the both crashed to the ground with Draco pinning her once again. Hermione screamed as loud as she could before whispering, "Please…no…"

Draco

"Please stop!!!" Hermione yelled as Draco stood only feet away, still unable to get over his pride. "Don't be like our fathers!! Please, Draco, stop hitting me!!"

'Me, hitting her? Our fathers…' he wondered, then it hit him. She was having the dream about her father again, except it was him hitting her and abusing her instead of her father. 'Oh no…' Draco made up his mind, he was going to go to her, but once again he stopped in his tracks. This time it was because of something else that she said.

"I HATE YOU, DRACO MALFOY!!! YOU ARE EVERYTHING THAT I ALWAYS THOUGHT YOU WERE!!! RAPE ME, BEAT ME, I DON'T CARE ANYMORE!!! YOU ARE _EXACTLY _LIKE YOUR FATHER!! I WANT NOTHING TO DO WITH YOU!!!!" Hermione yelled from her bed.

Draco, having heard this, flared with fury once again. 'Fine. If she hates me, then I hate her too.' he thought before walking back to his bed and covering his head with the pillow.

Hermione's screams continued throughout the night. Every thirty minutes the dream would change or start over. Sometimes it was him hurting her, other times it was her father. Draco listened to it all. He listened and cried. He couldn't help it. He loved her, whether he wanted to admit it or not, he knew it was true. He wanted to go to her, tell her it would be ok, and be there for her, but his pride wouldn't let him. The voice inside his head told him to go to her, to forget what his pride was telling him, but he wouldn't listen. He did, however, make himself lay there and listen to her cries. He didn't sleep again that night and soon footsteps were heard coming up the stairs. He threw the blankets over his head.

Stan emerged from the stairs, smiling. Draco faked sleep and listened as Stan went and woke Hermione. Draco opened his eyes slightly and he lifted the blanket a tiny bit, so that he could see her. She sat up and looked at Stan. She had dark bags under her eyes and her eyes themselves were bloodshot from crying. She tried to look like she was okay, but Draco could have seen through that disguise even if he hadn't heard her cries that night. "Time to get up lil' lady. We are 'ere." he said with a bow.

"Thank you." she said in a low, far away voice. She got up, grabbed her trunk and began to make her way downstairs.

Then, Stan came over to him. Draco sat up and looked at Stan before he had the chance to wake him. "I'm awake. Thanks." Draco said as he too grabbed his trunk and headed toward the stairs. He made sure he walked slowly to make sure Hermione didn't see him. When she was out of site, Draco got off of the bus and went the opposite direction. 'Everything is going to go back to normal now. This summer never. happened. She will make up the wonder boys and never look back.' he thought as he walked away in search of somewhere he can stay for a week.

Hermione

Hermione walked up the pathway to Hogwarts. When she finally arrived, she walked straight to Dumbledore's office. She got to the Gargoyle and stopped. 'Shoot. I don't know the password.' she thought as she stood there, trying to think of what it might be. Lucky for her, she heard Professor McGonogall and Professor Dumbledore voices and they were coming closer. When they turned the corner, they immediately saw Hermione standing there.

"Miss Granger, what a pleasant surprise. What are you doing here a week before term starts?" Dumbledore said as he approached.

"It's a…long story." she said in quiet voice.

"What's the matter?" Professor McGonogall asked in obvious concern for her best student.

"Well, how about we go up to my office and you can tell us the whole story." Dumbledore said as he heard more footsteps approaching. Hermione nodded and Dumbledore said, "Gummy Bears." The gargoyle leapt aside and they climbed up the stairs.

Once in Dumbledore's office, they all sat down. Dumbledore sat behind his deck, McGonogall sat in a chair next to his, and Hermione sat on the other side of the desk. There was an uncomfortable silence before Dumbledore said, "So, why don't you tell us what happened over the summer that brought you here so soon. We know about your father, but why don't you go ahead and tell us the whole story."

Hermione gulped. She didn't know what to say. She really didn't want to tell them about her and Draco getting close, but she didn't know how she could leave it out. "Well," she started, "My mother died and my dad started drinking. He would be constantly drunk and he suddenly began being violent. He would hit me and yell at me constantly." she said as tears welled up in her eyes. She paused for a second to regain herself before continuing. "Soon, it became to much. He would beat me so badly that I would be confined to my bed for the day or sometimes more. He constantly blamed me for mom's death and it was ripping me apart piece by piece. I didn't want to leave my dad, but I saw no other choice. So one day I packed up my stuff and snuck out of the house. I called the Knight Bus, like Harry had done in third year, and went to my parents' deserted cabin. I didn't think he would go looking for me there. Anyway, the Knight bus dropped me off about two miles from the cabin, so I started walking. I was almost there when something heavy feel right on top of me. I soon discovered that it was Draco. I didn't know it was him at the time because it was dark, but I felt bad for this unconscious man. I picked him up and carried him to the cabin. He was beaten badly. I helped him get better and we slowly started becoming friends. Then one day, my Draco went to the grocery store. I heard a knock on the door and I answered it because I thought that Draco had just forgot the key. It was my dad. He hit me and hurt me. He was about to…" Hermione trailed off, trying to hold back the tears that were threatening to fall.

"It's ok, Miss Granger. Take your time." Professor McGonogall said in a motherly voice.

Hermione nodded and took a deep breath before continuing. "Well, he was about to…rape me." she said the last in a barely audible whisper. "Then, Draco came and saved me. He thru him off of me and called you." she said looking at Dumbledore. "After that, we got really close. Then, yesterday, we got in a fight and here I am." she finished, leaving out the part about Ron. She wiped her eyes and then looked up at her professors. Dumbledore's eyes were full of love and understanding and McGongall's were full of pity and that motherly look. Professor McGonogall suddenly stood, walked around the desk, bent down, and pulled Hermione into an embrace. This shocked Hermione since it was so not a Professor McGonogall thing to do, but after she got over the initial shock, she returned the much needed hug. Tears were pooling in her professor's eyes as they pulled apart. "You will always have a home here. I think that Professor Dumbledore will agree with me." she said turning to get conformation from the man in question.

"Of coarse." he said with a smile and the twinkle in his eyes. "Now, since you are here early, I think that we will let you go ahead and stay in your prefect dormitories." With that, he stood and began walking towards the door. He opened it and gestured for the two girls to go first. They all went through and Dumbledore led them down the corridor.

Professor McGonogall did another thing that was very un-her. She put a motherly arm around Hermione's shoulder and said, "You come to me if you need _anything._"

Hermione smiled and nodded. She liked the new Professor McGonogall. She had always looked to this woman as a role model, now she might be able to look to her as a mother as well.

Dumbledore suddenly stopped in front of a portrait of a boy and a girl. The boy was wearing green and the girl was in a scarlet dress. They looked like they were from the 30's. Dumbledore saw her looking at the portrait and said, "They were Head Boy and Head Girl in 1933."

Hermione smiled and nodded. Then Dumbledore said, "Happy Heads." The portrait moved aside and a hole appeared from behind it. "Well, we will leave you here. See you at lunch." He winked and escorted McGonogall back towards his office.

Hermione climbed inside and admired her new room. The whole room was done in white, red, and black. The counters were marble and the floors were hard wood, except in front of the fireplace. There, was a shag carpet in deep, blood red. There were huge bookcases every way she looked. Then, there was a wood table with 10 chairs around it. 'Must be for the prefect meetings…' she thought as she walked towards the door with her name carved in it. 'Wonder who the new Head Boy is…' When she entered her room, she saw that it was much bigger than her old room. In the middle was one king-sized four poster with blood red curtains. Across from the bed was a small dresser and a vanity. The vanity had a huge mirror and a small cushioned chair. She smiled and sat in front of the mirror. She had totally forgot about all of her problems until she saw her reflection. She looked horrible. Heavy bags hung beneath her eyes, her eyes themselves were decorated in red, and her face was red and puffy from crying. Her depression came flooding back with a vengeance. She wanted nothing more than to crawl in bed and never come out again, but then she thought of something. Harry…

Hermione got up and ran towards the portrait hole. She wanted to talk to Harry before Ron got the chance. Once she got out into the corridor, she stopped. 'Wait, I have no idea where he is…' she thought. 'If I were Harry and I was alone, what would I do???' she only had to think for a few seconds before it came to her, 'Quidditch!!! He has to be at the pitch.'

With that thought, she ran towards the Entrance Hall. She flew through the doors and ran to the Quidditch Pitch. Sure enough, Harry was soaring high above the stands doing flips and dives.

"Harry!!! HARRY!!!" she yelled as she waved her arms over her head in an attempt to get his attention. She was a bout to yell out his name again when another form appeared beside him. Hermione saw the red hair and immediately knew that it was Ron. Her heart sank. Harry is going to take his side…but I still have to try.' So, once again she began yelling his name and waving her arms. Ron spotted her first. He squinted before elbowing Harry and pointing down at her. Harry, who had been laughing, suddenly froze. Even from that far away, she could see that he was mad.

They talked for a few minutes before flying towards her. A few seconds later, they landed in front of her. They both stood there and waited. Neither made a sound.

"Harry…Ron…" she started, but once again she was cut off by Ron's yells.

"What do you want, _traitor!!!_" he yelled.

"It wasn't…" she tried again, but this time it was Harry who cut her off.

"How could you, Granger?? I thought you were my friend." he said in a half hurt, half angry voice.

"I am--"

"NO YOUR NOT!!! YOU ARE SLEEPING WITH THE ENEMY!!!" Ron yelled.

"I am no--"

"Forget it, Granger. Ron told me everything. We never want to see you again." Harry said in a slightly raised voice before they mounted their brooms and flew away.

"No…" Hermione muttered before turning on heel and running back to the castle, tears streaming from her eyes for the umpteenth time in the last two days.

'I really am alone…' she thought as she flung herself onto her bed and cried.

After crying for a few hours, she decided that she needed to get her feelings out. She decided to write a letter to no one.

__

Anyone who'll listen,

People used to tell to me that life is not perfect. Well, for a long time I thought they were wrong. I thought my life was perfect. I had friends that loved me, a loving family, I go to one of the best schools…I loved my life. These past few years have been totally perfect. I thought that my life could never be anything but perfect. I guess that that is where I made my mistake. Nothing is perfect, and once you start thinking that it is everything falls apart.

I thought my life was prefect, so what happens?? It falls apart!!! Why is life so cruel??? I had two of the most wonderful friends. Sure we had our disagreements, but we have been best friends for 5 years. We used to do everything together. Now, as of today they never want to see me again. I also had a guy in my life. I was just starting to love him when he suddenly decided that he too never wants to see me again. My family is no linger a family and the only thing I have left is school, but what is going to school if you have no friends?? Why did my life suddenly turn upside down????? I can't stand being alone. I have nobody to talk to, nobody to love, nothing…I need a friend…

If anybody ever gets this, I need a night in shining armor…Save me from the life which was so perfect, but is now laying around me in ruin!!! Will you be my friend????

Yours truly,  
Hopelessly Lost

After signing the letter, she sealed it and tied it to Triton's foot. "Take this to someone…" she said as she opened a window and let him out.

AN- that was a long one…eh??? Well, hope that you liked it…Tune in next week for the next episode of Getting Through…jk. Well, bye…

I love Tom,

Gotta Love Drakie


	11. The Reply

Chapter 11-

AN hello all. That last chappy was super long wasn't it?? Well, I will do my best to make this one long too….We will see what happens…

By the way, if you all haven't read my other story you should. I just submitted chapter 41!!!

Well, Please oh Please read and review!! All of my previous reviewers are great!! You all are what keep me going!!!

Enjoy…

**__**

…If anybody ever gets this, I need a night in shining armor…Save me from the life which was so perfect, but is now laying around me in ruin!!! Will you be my friend????

Yours truly,  
Hopelessly Lost…

After signing the letter, she sealed it and tied it to Triton's foot. "Take this to someone…" she said as she opened a window and let him out.

Draco woke the next morning in a dreary, cheap motel room. It took him a few minutes to remember where he was, but when he did he let out a loud, irritated groan. This was immediately followed by another growl from his stomach. He got up, got dressed, and went out to find some breakfast in Hogsmeade.

On his way, he heard the familiar screeching of an owl. He looked up just in time to an owl soaring directly at his head. It landed none to gracefully or gently on his shoulder. Draco looked at it curiously before taking the parchment off of it's leg. He unrolled it and read:

_Anyone who'll listen,_

People used to tell to me that life is not perfect. Well, for a long time I thought they were wrong. I thought my life was perfect. I had friends that loved me, a loving family, I go to one of the best schools…I loved my life. These past few years have been totally perfect. I thought that my life could never be anything but perfect. I guess that that is where I made my mistake. Nothing is perfect, and once you start thinking that it is everything falls apart.

I thought my life was prefect, so what happens?? It falls apart!!! Why is life so cruel??? I had two of the most wonderful friends. Sure we had our disagreements, but we have been best friends for 5 years. We used to do everything together. Now, as of today they never want to see me again. I also had a guy in my life. I was just starting to love him when he suddenly decided that he too never wants to see me again. My family is no linger a family and the only thing I have left is school, but what is going to school if you have no friends?? Why did my life suddenly turn upside down????? I can't stand being alone. I have nobody to talk to, nobody to love, nothing…I need a friend…

If anybody ever gets this, I need a night in shining armor…Save me from the life which was so perfect, but is now laying around me in ruin!!! Will you be my friend????

Yours truly,  
Hopelessly Lost

After reading this, he felt a strong sence of pity towards this person. He immediately returned to his room, grabbed a spare piece of parchment, and began scribbling a reply.

__

Hopelessly Lost,

Hi, I ran into your owl and I think that I can relate to you. I would like to be your friend, but for now I think that it is best that we don't know each other. Then, we can talk about everything and not have to worry about the other person saying anything. Is that ok?

Anyway, I have went through a lot of the stuff that you have. My dad beats me too. He thinks that it will improve my "Character" I think that he just likes seeing me suffer… Is that how your dad is? I have also recently lost someone that was very close to me. We had spent a lot of time together and then something happened and she will probably never talk to each other again.

So, I hope this letter gets to you and I hope that you write back .I would love to hear from you soon!! Oh, what is your owls name? He is a very pretty owl.

Maybe someday I can be that Knight in Shining Armor that you talked about in your letter…write back…

Your Friend, Green Knight

P.S. what can I call you? No names, just something that I can address my letters to?

Draco looked over the letter once before sending it off.

Hermione woke up the next morning and got dressed. Having just moved into the castle, she was not used to waking up in again. At first she smiled at the thought of her home, but her smile soon turned to a frown when she remembered why she was there.

Groaning, she got up and got dressed. She decided that if she went to breakfast early, then maybe she wouldn't run into Harry or Ron.

Soon, she was entering the great hall with a huge, phony smile on her face. She took a seat by McGonagall and across from Hagrid. "Good morning, Hermione." McGonagall said in her motherly voice.

"Good morning." Hermione said to the smiling teacher.

"G' Mornin' , Ermione." Hagrid said with his monstrous smile.

"Hi, Hagrid."

"So, when did you get 'ere?"

"Yesterday night."

"Oh. Are yeh 'ere to keep 'Arry company?"

"Yeah. Didn't want him or Ron to get into any trouble before school started." she lied quickly.

"Tha's go--." he said before interrupting himself, "Look, t'ere they are now." He said the last pointing to the doors.

Hermione looked up and tried to make eye contact, but when she finally did she wasn't happy with what she saw. Both Harry and Ron gave her death glares. If looks could kill, she would be really dead. Tears immediately threatened to fall, so she got up, made an excuse for leaving without eating, and ran from the hall.

She ran straight to her prefect room and threw herself onto the bed. 'Why…why…why…" she kept thinking until her thoughts were interrupted by a gently tapping sound. She lifted her head and saw that Triton was tapping on her window. She got up and opened the window. Triton soared in and dropped a letter onto her bed.

She ran back to the bed and retrieved the letter. She read and a small smile spread across her face before retreating to her desk to write a reply.

__

Green Dragon,

You can call me Scarlet Cat. I am very glad that you wrote me back and I think just being pen pals is a great idea!

I had a run-in with my two Ex-Best friends today. They were jerks! Why are all guys such arrogant arse-holes?? I just don' t understand what happened…they won't even let me explain what happened. They just assume that whatever I did was wrong. It really hurt me that they could just up and desert me like that. You won't do that, will you?

Anyway, my owls name is Triton. I am glad you like him. I used to have a cat, but he disappeared. So, this time I thought I would get a useful pet…

Well, I got to go. I need to get my "friends" off of my mind. Please write back soon!! I can't wait for your reply.

Your new friend, Scarlet Cat

Hermione smiled before giving the note to Triton and sending him away yet again.

Draco sat in a small diner eating lunch when he heard a tapping noise at the window. He looked over his shoulder and saw Triton outside with a letter clasp in it's beak. 'Wow, that was quick.' he thought as he went to the window to retrieve the letter. He read it carefully with a small smile on his face. He grabbed a napkin and scribbled a reply.

__

Scarlet Cat,

Hey now, not all_ guys are "arrogant arse holes" as you so charitably call us. I happen to be a guy and I think that I am perfectly charming._

'Not exactly true, but she doesn't know me so why not.' he thought before continuing.

__

Anyway, sorry that this letter is on a napkin. I am in a diner and I am eating.

Sorry about your run-in with those guys that used to be you friends. I hope that you are okay!! I will agree that some guys are arrogant arse holes…just not all.

So, tell me about yourself. How old are you? What do you like to do? Just something so that I can get to know you better.

Talk to you later, Green Dragon

The letters continued this way throughout the next week.

__

Green Dragon,

I am sixteen. I love to read and write. I am a good student at the school I go to. I dunno…I am nice, I think. I get along with pretty much everybody, except a few people who make fun of me and my friends (well my Old Friends) I dunno what else to say. What do you want to know? Tell me about yourself.

I am sorry about the arrogant arse hole comment…Most guys, not all guys. Better?

Got to go, Scarlet Cat

Scarlet Cat,

Well, I guess that that is enough information for now. I don't know what else to ask…

I am also sixteen. I am a fairly good student, not the top of my class but not the bottom either. I don't have many friends because I appear to be mean and people only judge me according to my family. It sucks considering how much of a bastard my father is and all…

Well, write back ASAP, Green Dragon

Green Dragon,

Today was one of the worst days of my life!!! I don't know how I am going to make it through this school year with them _around!! At breakfast today I got forty-three howlers from people that my 'friends' told lies to. What am I going to do!?? I can't stand this. I feel so alone…You are the only friend I have and I fear that since everybody likes _them_ so much that everybody will turn their backs on me and hate me!!! I can't do this…I don't know if I will be able to make it through life without anybody…_

Scarlet Cat

Scarlet Cat,

I am so sorry that all of this is happening to you, but I want you to know that I am here for you to talk whenever you need. I am sorry that I can't do more now, but maybe someday…

Green Dragon

Hermione finished reading the letter and put it into the tin box where she stashed all of the others. Tears were running gently down her cheeks. 'I thought I could do this, but with every letter, I want to meet him so much more. Why can't I find a guy like that??' she wondered as she got up and walked to the window. "Wherever you are, Green Dragon, I need you!!" she said in a fierce whisper.

Draco

Suddenly a chill went down Draco's spine. He had been looking up into the vast expanse of sky, thinking about the girl when it had happened. He knew that even thought they had never met, that there was a definite connection. She reminded him of somebody but he couldn't place who. He wanted to meet her so bad, but he was afraid that it wouldn't turn out the way he wanted or that she would know his family and hate him.

Tomorrow he would be heading to school. He knew that he would be confronted with the 'Golden Trio' and he would act as if nothing happened. Because even though he was starting to like Scarlet Cat he couldn't get his mind off of Hermione. Draco might be a Malfoy and a Slytherin, but he could feel and he knew that he had in fact fallen in love with Mudblood Granger. But that didn't matter. She didn't feel the same way and pretty soon she will be dating Weasel or Pot-Head. She will have forgotten him, so he will force himself to forget her.

Hermione sat up in her bed that night. Tomorrow all of the students will be arriving and life would be worse than it already is. 'Maybe it won't be. Maybe everyone will be my friend regardless of what Harry and Ron say.' she thought hopefully, but she knew that that wasn't realistic. Everyone will always believe the boy-who-lived over some stupid Mudblood.

Her mind began wondering until it landed it on a certain blond hair, silver eyed Slytherin. 'Why do I keep thinking about that PRAT???' she yelled to herself. 'He doesn't like me. He doesn't think that I am _good_ enough for him!! Well, maybe I think that I am too good for him!!!' She knew that this wasn't true. She might try to deny it, but deep down she knew that she had fallen for him and there was no way out of it. He would haunt her thoughts forever.

__

Green Dragon,

I am sad today. I feel so lonely. My school starts tomorrow and I just know that everyone is going to hate me!! I wish I could talk to you in person. I really need just one friend right now…just one… it is so not fare!!

I finally admitted something to myself today. I finally admitted that I am in love, but the person that I am in love with left me. He hates me and he thinks that I am not worthy of him. I want to hate him, I want to forget him, I want to move on…I can't. I can't stop thinking about him. I can't forget the good times or the bad times. I can't forget his smile. I didn't see it a lot, but when he did show it, it was heart-melting…I love him and I can't forget that.

__

I am sorry, you probably don't want to hear this but, I needed to tell someone. I know that you are the only one who would listen or understand.

Bye, Scarlet Cat

Scarlet Cat,

It was good hearing from you. I am sorry about the guy that you are in love with and I do know how you feel…

I too have loved and lost. I was a jerk. I hurt the woman that I loved…I made her cry…I hate myself so much for making her cry!!! I wish I could take back the last few weeks, but I can't. I don't even think that she feels the same way as I do. But, I admit that even though I am in love with her and want to spend my life with her that I would rather be her friend than have her hate me.

I will probably see her tomorrow. She has probably forgotten about me. So, we will act like we had previously. We will make rude remarks as if nothing had happened between us. I love her and I don't want to make her cry again, but I don't know what else to do…Why does love have to be so complicated?? She will never forgive me for what I did and I will have to just forget about everything that had happened.

Well, bye. I have to go pack. School starts tomorrow for me too!!

Green Dragon

Hermione read the letter over and over. 'Poor guy. He seems to be so in love with her and she doesn't even know it…Well, if it were me, I wouldn't pass up a chance with him. I would forgive him…' she thought as she put the letter up and prepared to go to bed.

'Tomorrow is going to be a long day…I am going to have to face _him_ again.' she thought before drifting off to sleep.

Draco paced his room for several minutes thinking about what would happen when he saw Hermione and her "bodyguards." He knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it if he saw Hermione on one of those 'Wonder' boys arms. 'They don't deserve her!!' he thought angrily. 'What am I saying? _I _don't deserve her. _I'm _the one who said that she was filthy…_I'm_ one who said that she wasn't good enough…I am such an arsehole!!!' With that, he crashed.

AN- I love you all!! Read and Review!!


	12. First Day of School

Chapter 12-

AN- hey all…sorry it had been a while…here is the next chapter.

__

Last time

Hermione read the letter over and over. 'Poor guy. He seems to be so in love with her and she doesn't even know it…Well, if it were me, I wouldn't pass up a chance with him. I would forgive him…' she thought as she put the letter up and prepared to go to bed.

'Tomorrow is going to be a long day…I am going to have to face him again.' she thought before drifting off to sleep.

Draco paced his room for several minutes thinking about what would happen when he saw Hermione and her "bodyguards." He knew that he wouldn't be able to handle it if he saw Hermione on one of those 'Wonder' boys arms. 'They don't deserve her!!' he thought angrily. 'What am I saying? I don't deserve her. I'm the one who said that she was filthy…I'm one who said that she wasn't good enough…I am such an arsehole!!!' With that, he crashed.

Hermione slept through breakfast and lunch. She didn't want another confrontation with the boys she came to know as Potter and Weasley. When she did get up, it was almost time to get ready for the other students to arrive. She showered and got ready in record time.

'Well, here goes nothing.' Hermione thought as she headed towards the Entrance Hall to greet her friends. She walked slowly and took deep, reassuring breaths the entire way. When she arrived, she saw a group of Gryffindor talking in a circle. She was about to go over when she heard her name mentioned. She paused and strained her ears.

"Yeah, heard that Hermione has betrayed us all. Ron owled me a few days ago telling me all about it." This from Lavender Brown, a sixth year Gryffindor.

"I heard that too. Read us the letter." This from Dean Thomas.

"Okay. Here it is.

__

Lavender,

How are you doing?? I am just owling you to let you know what has been going on here lately. Harry and I are doing fine, but Hermione has changed. She betrayed us…she has become a Slytherin whore! She has been lying to us for who knows how long……"

Hermione couldn't listen anymore. Instead, she turned around and headed straight back to her room. She threw herself onto her bad and buried her head underneath her pillows. As the tears streamed onto the bed, she could only think of one thing…Draco.

Draco woke early and got dressed. He was going to meet everyone when the Hogwarts express got to Hogsmeade, but for now he needed a drink. He headed straight for Hogs Head.

Draco drank all day long. Soon, he caught a glance at a clock and found that it was time to go. He growled as he got up and began waddling down the street. When he got to the station, he found that the train had not yet arrived so he laid down on a bench. Soon, he found himself in a numb, dreamless sleep.

Fifteen minutes later, Draco was forced out of his sleep by an annoying shaking feeling. He cracked open his eyes to see Pansy, Crabbe, and Goyle standing over him. /

Due to his exploding headache and massive hangover, Draco sat up and growled at them. "Get you hands off of me, Parkinson!!"

Pansy automatically drew her hands away with tears in her eyes. "What's wrong, Drakie? Why weren't you on the train?" she asked from a safe distance.

"Shut up!" Draco yelled as he stood and walked away. Crabbe and Goyle immediately flanked him which annoyed Draco quickly. Soon, he stopped, spun round, and took a deep breath. "Don't you guys have anything better to do than follow me everywhere?" eh asked in a strained voice. The other two boys looked confused, so Draco said, "Get away from me! Go follow someone else for a change!!" as unintelligent Crabbe and Goyle were, they understood every word and quickly moved away from him. 'How irritating!' he thought before heading towards the carriages.

He boarded the first empty one he saw and waited. After a few minutes of silence, the door opened. He glanced to the door and saw someone that he had never seen before. She was a short, blond with frosty blue eyes and a great smile. "May I sit with you?" she asked in a soft, cheery voice. Draco nodded and she took the seat across from him. "Hi, I'm Megan Price. My friends call me Meg. What's your name?"

Draco cleared his throat and said in a low, masculine voice, "Draco Malfoy."

"It is nice to meet you Draco. May I call you Draco? I mean you can call me Meg, if you want." she said.

"Yes, please. Call me Draco." he said. "So, do you live in England or are you an exchange student?"

"Oh, I just moved here from America."

"Cool." Draco said as he processed this information. 'Hmm, so she's new and she doesn't know anything about me. Plus, she would be a good way to get over Hermione or at least to stop thinking about her.'

They talked the rest of the journey to Hogwarts. When they were almost there Draco said, "Meg, can I ask you something?"

Megan nodded and said, "Sure."

"Good, I was just wondering if you would like to go out with me sometime."

Megan smiled and nodded enthusiastically. Just then, the carriage stopped and they were to get out. Draco climbed out and offered her a hand. "May I escort you up to the castle, Milady?"

Megan giggled before taking his hand and climbing out of the carriage. Then, as they were walking up the stairs, Draco took her hand. This caused her to smile and blush.

When Draco and Megan entered the Entrance Hall, they saw several small groups of people gossiping. Draco stopped suddenly when he heard someone say 'Hermione.' He strained his ears to hear what they were saying, but Megan continued to pull him through the crowd and away from the gossiping people. "Oh, Draco. It is so beautiful!! I am in love with this castle _already_!!!" she said as the reached the Great Hall doors.

Draco opened the door for her and they walked in. Draco was about to head straight for the Slytherin table when he realized that he didn't know what house she was in. "Hey Meg, do you know which house you are in?" he asked.

"Not yet. Dumbledore told me that I was to be sorted before the feast." Megan replied.

"Okay. Well for now you can come sit with me at the Slytherin table." he said as he escorted her toward the aforementioned table.

"Sounds good." she said with a smile.

Hermione finally stopped crying long enough to glance at her bedside clock. She was shocked to find that the sorting started in less than five minutes. She got up, washed her face, and ran towards the great hall. She wouldn't have gone in she didn't have Prefect duties to attend to.

When she arrived at the doors, everybody, except the first years, was already inside. She took a deep breath and walked in. As the doors opened she heard the sound of chattering and laughing. Once again, her eyes filled with tears, but she fought them and walked to the end of the Gryffindor table. Since everyone was glaring at her, she took a seat alone at the end of the table.

After what seemed like years, Dumbledore stood up and tapped on his glass with his fork. The Hall went silent and he began talking. "Welcome to another year at Hogwarts!! It is so nice to see so many new and old faces!! Now, let the sorting begin!!"

The first years were all sorted in to their respectable houses: 5 in Gryffindor, 7 in Hufflepuff, 6 in Ravenclaw, and 5 in Slytherin. When the sorting was finished, everyone waited for Dumbledore to stand again, but instead McGonagall called out another name.

"Price, Megan!!"

Everyone's eyes darted around the room until they saw a girl stand from the Slytherin table. She was a petite girl with long, curly blond hair and frosty blue eyes. She walked to the front with a small smile on her face and her hair flowing gracefully behind her.

'I wonder who she is…She must be new here. Oh, I hope she gets sorted in Gryffindor! She looks nice and I could use a friend about now.' Hermione thought as she watched her walk to the front and sit on the stool. After a few minutes of waiting, Hermione was gravely disappointed. "Slytherin!!"

'What?? She looks so nice!' Hermione thought as she saw the girl grin, get up, and head towards the Slytherin table. She then took a seat next to none other than Draco Malfoy. He smiled at her as she leaned in and kissed him on the cheek.

A surge of jealousy flooded Hermione's system. 'How dare she!! She touched my--' Hermione cut herself off by mentally slapping herself. 'He is not 'my' anything!! I _HATE_ him!!' even as she thought it, she knew it wasn't true. She _loved_ him, but she wouldn't admit it now. Not now that he so obviously moved on. Tears threaten to fall from her eyes, so she laid her head in her arms and cried silently.

'Alright she's in Slytherin!' Draco thought as he watched her be sorted. 'Maybe she will be able to distract me from Hermione after all.' At that thought, he turned to scan the Gryffindor table. His eyes immediately focused on the middle on the table where he suspected her to be. 'Potty and Weasel are there--always the center of attention--but where is Her-Granger?' His eyes continued to search the table until he came to the end. He almost missed her, sitting at the end of the table, all be herself. She was watching Megan, with a sad, disappointed expression on her face.

Just then, Megan reached him. She sat down next to him, leaned over and placed a gentle kiss on his cheek. He smiled at her before turning his attention back to the front of the room. Dumbledore started his normal, somewhat redundant, speech and Draco's eyes began to drift back to where Hermione was sitting. When he saw her, he found that her head was down and her body was shaking slightly. 'Why isn't she with Potter and Weasley? Didn't they forgive her? Even if they didn't, what about all her other Gryffindor friends?' Draco's thoughts were suddenly interrupted when he heard his name. He looked up and realized that Dumbledore was naming off the Prefects and Heads.

"..Now, I would like all of the Prefects to come up here for a quick meeting after the feast. Now, tuck in!!" He waved his hands and food appeared on the table. Draco dug in immediately. He hadn't had a good meal like this in a long time.

When the food appeared on the table, Hermione lifted her head. Now that everybody was eating, she would not be noticed. She put a small portion on her plate, but really didn't feel 'in the mood' to eat it. Instead, she moved it around on her plate until all the food disappeared. She then stood and headed to Head table.

McGonagall gave her another motherly smile before the other Prefects approached the table. "Go ahead into the door down there," McGonagall pointed to the door Harry had gone in fourth year for the Triwizard tournament. She nodded and went through the door, followed by the others--including Draco Malfoy and Ronald Weasley.

After a few minutes of uncomfortable and cruel glaring, Dumbledore came through the door. "Is everyone here?" he asked, though he already knew the answer. "Good. How about we have a seat." he said as he waved his hand. A long conference table appeared in the middle of the room and everyone took a seat. "Now, I only have a few things to tell you. First, I am glad that all of you are here, and I trust you all had good vacations." they all nodded with the exception of Hermione. "Second, I wouls like to tell you that we are doing something a little different this year. The living arrangement will be slightly different than usual that is. I will out all of the boys names in a hat and the girls will draw from it to see who their roommate will be." he said with a smile. He then magiced a hat out of nowhere. "Now, who would like to go first?…"

And that's how it happened….

Padma Patil-Ravenclaw and Ronald Weasley-Gryffindor  
Justin Finch-Fletchy-Hufflepuff and Pansy Parkinson-Slytherin  
Hanna Abbot-Hufflepuff and Gary Michaels-Ravenclaw  
Draco Malfoy-Slytherin and Hermione Granger-Gryffindor

'NO!!! I can't live with _him!!_' Hermione thought when she drew Draco's name.

"Well, now that that is over, I will show you all to your rooms. Miss. Granger, since you already know where your room is, would you please be kind enough to show Mr. Malfoy?" Dumbledore said.

Hermione nodded, still dumbstruck by the news. She walked silently from the room with a stricken Draco close behind her. 'Oh no, this can only turn out badly.'

'How am I supposed to forget about her now?!!!?' Draco screamed to himself as he followed her silently. 'This can only turn out badly.'

When Hermione finally stopped, he almost ran into her. He looked up and saw that they were standing in front of a portrait of a boy and a girl. They were in old clothing and the boy had his arms around the girl.

"Good Evening, Miss. Ganger. Is that the Prefect that is staying here with you?" the woman in the portrait asked.

Hermione nodded before saying, "Happy Heads" and walking in.

'Happy Heads?? We aren't Heads, we're just Prefects.' he thought as he followed her into the room.

Hermione didn't say a word to him. She immediately disappeared into her room. He looked around for long enough to see that the bathroom was between the two room before he went to his room.


	13. Lost

Chapter 13-

AN- I am sooo sorry that I haven't been able to update in a long time…I have been doing a lot…Yeh know…

Well, anyway…here it is. I will try to update my other story within the next few days…I will TRY. I make no promises…

Draco was startled awake at about three thirty in the morning. He sat up and listened to hear what had woken him up. After straining to hear for about fifteen seconds, he heard it. He heard something that he hadn't heard since the night that he had left the cabin for Hogsmeade. Hermione's screams.

Tears suddenly filled his eyes and he was overwhelmed with the urge to run to her. He actually got out of bed before he realized what he was doing. He stopped himself and forced himself to sit back down. He pulled the covers back over his body and laid down.

Twenty minutes later Draco found himself crushing his pillow as he listened to every word she screamed.

"STOP!! HELP, DRACO PLEASE…Draco…NOOOO!!!!"

Every single time Draco heard his name he cringed. He was angry…unbelievably angry. 'Why does she have to dream about _me_? I didn't hit her. Her dad hit her!!! Not me…' Draco thought over and over again.

Suddenly everything went silent. Draco once again strained his ears to hear what was going on. After several minutes of silence, Draco heard movement in the common room. 'She must have woken up.' Draco thought. He was about to fell sorry for her, but he caught himself and said out loud, "About time." With that, he went back to sleep.

Hermione couldn't sleep. The nightmares were haunting her again. Ever since that day when she had left the cabin, she had had at least one nightmare a night.

Tears were gently flowing down her cheeks as she assumed her usual 3 am position on the couch downstairs. She sat there, clinging to a pillow, and cried. She had done this nearly every night since she had arrived at Hogwarts. Sometimes she wouldn't wake up until 6 am, other times she would be forced from her sleep at 1. It seemed to vary from night to night, but she could at least count on the fact that she would have a rude awakening sometime in the wee hours of the morning.

She wanted to scream, but she held back because she didn't want Draco to know how much she was suffering. She didn't want to give him the satisfaction of letting him know how much he was tearing her apart on the inside. So, she held it in. She just sat there and sobbed quietly into the pillow that she had used as her only comfort for so many nights.

After sitting in the same position for about two hours, Hermione got up and went to get dressed. It was five thirty and she thought that she might as well get up and get something done. She dressed in a black spaghetti strap shirt and a pair of black pants with a blood red belt. She then put on her black boots. This wasn't school uniform, but classes didn't start until Monday so it didn't matter what she wore today. She didn't bother putting make-up on, nobody would be looking at her anyway. She picked up her brush and began combing trough the messy locks of hair. Three minutes later, she decided to just leave it down and go. She sat the brush down, glanced in the mirror, and left her room.

Once she was in the common room again, she picked up the book she had been reading, _Blue Moon _by Laurell K.. Hamilton, and was off.

As she was walking down the corridors towards the Great Hall she opened her book and began reading. She walked around like a machine, moving through the halls and corridors with ease as she looked only at the book in her hands. She knew these corridors like the back of her hand and she had no need to look up. Or so she thought.

CRASH

Hermione hit a hard stone wall. The book fell from her hands and rested on the floor as she tried to regain her balance. When she was steady she looked around. 'There shouldn't be a wall here.' she thought as she gazed at the unfamiliar wall that surrounded her. 'Where am I? Bloody hell!! I must have taken a wrong turn. I guess I'll just go back the way I came.' With that, she picked up her book and turned around. She was about to start walking, but there was a wall there. 'What? That wasn't there a second ago.' she thought as she turned to her left then to her right only to find walls on both sides. Finally she turned to look behind her and found that once again, she had no where to go.

Panic flowed through her veins as she began spinning around in search of a way out. After spinning several times she found nothing. She was surrounded by solid, stone walls. With that thought, she began pushing on the walls. Yet again, she was disappointed to find that she was trapped.

By this time, Hermione had dropped her book and was in tears. She wanted to scream, but she knew that noone would hear. Everyone was sleeping and who knows where she was. Finally, she stopped pounding on the walls and sat down on the cold, stone floor. 'Why me…why is it always me??' she wondered as she sat on the ground holding her legs close to her stomach.

At around six-thirty, Draco woke once again and got ready for his day. When he had taken a shower and gotten dressed he decided to head to the Great Hall for breakfast.

After walking for a few minutes, Draco was lost in his thoughts. He had dreamt about Hermione when he had fallen back asleep. In his dream, he went to her and held her. He took care of her and she didn't push him away. It was a nice dream, but he knew that it wasn't real. There was no way that she would take him willing back into her arms after what he had done. There was just no way.

'Why did I have to ruin everything?? Wait, I didn't do anything. _I _was the one willing to lower my standards. _I_ was the one who was giving up my entire family. _I_ was the one giving up my reputation. What did she do? What was she willing to give up for me? She wouldn't even let go of the Wonder Boy and his Homely Sidekick! What's the deal with that? She doesn't deserve me.'

Anger suddenly filled him to the brim and flowed out from every pore in his body. He pulled his right arm back and smashed it into one of the stone walls. He was mad about everything. Hermione, his father, school, Hermione, getting lost, Hermione…As he pulled his hand back he saw blood rushing from his knuckles. For a moment he stared at the bloodied flesh, but he was drawn from his trace by the quiet sound of someone crying. The sound was coming from the corridor to his left. He turned towards the sound and began walking towards it.

After walking for only a few seconds, he caught sight of someone laying on the floor crying. Draco immediately knew it was a girl, because of the long, wavy, brown hair that was covering her thin, shaking shoulders. But who it was, he could not tell. Judging from her size, he thought that she was probably a scared second or third year.

Draco, being the good prefect that he was, in private, approached the small girl. When he was standing over her, he bent down to tap her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?"

Hermione had no idea how long she had been laying on the floor, but she felt that she didn't have the energy to move. She just laid on the ground and let her tears fall. Not tears from getting lost, though that was part of it. They were tears of loss. The loss of Draco, Ron, Harry, Draco, the Gryffindors, her mother, Draco, her father…the list seemed to go on and on. Yet, she noticed that her mind always came back to Draco. And every time she thought about him, she began to cry harder.

Suddenly, she was shaken from her thoughts by a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Hey, are you okay?" came a voice that seemed really far away.

She didn't want to look up, but somewhere in the rational part of her brain she realized that someone else had gotten through the wall. Slowly she pulled herself into a sitting position. Her hair fell in front of her face hiding her from view, but she didn't have the strength to brush it away. She looked up at the boy in front of her, but she couldn't tell who he was through the wall of hair that was covering her face. She stared at him for a few seconds before he spoke again.

"Can I help you with something? Are you lost?" He asked in a caring voice.

Hermione didn't answer. She didn't know what to say. She was beginning to think that she was dreaming and that something was going to go wrong any second.

The boy kneeled down after a few minutes of silence passed. "Look, you don't have to be afraid. I can help you find your way if you are lost."

Again, Hermione gave no answer. She didn't know why she wouldn't answer, but right now she just wanted to wake up from this horrible dream.

"I understand that you might be embarrassed, but there is no reason to be. It is very common for second years to get lost." he guessed second year because third years and above usually don't get lost.

Hermione tilted her head to the side at this. "I'm not a second year." she mumbled.

Draco was startled by the quietness of the voice. It was very sad and broken. She sounded sort of…detached…"Oh, sorry. What year are you?"

"Sixth."

This caught Draco off guard. 'A sixth year? How could she be a sixth year? She is way to small…' Draco thought, but he pushed his thoughts away and said, "Can I help you?"

Hermione shook her head. 'Noone can help me. Noone wants to help me.' she thought as she looked down at the ground.

Draco felt the sudden need to know who this girl was, to help her. He slowly moved his hand forward to move the hair from the girls guarded face. He pushed the hair behind her ear and gazed into her face. He barely held in the gasp that wanted to come out. It was Hermione.

Millions of different thoughts were zooming through his mind as he stared down at the tiny, frail girl in front of him. 'Why is she so skinny? Why didn't I notice before? Why is she lost? What is she doing crying in the middle of a corridor? Where are Potty and Weasel???'

Hermione looked up as the boy moved her hair from her face. Her eyes were out of focus for several seconds before she realized with a start that it was Draco. She wanted to scream, but she didn't have the strength. All she did was open her mouth and gap at him. 'What is he doing here? Why is he trying to help me? Why do…' Suddenly Hermione's head began to spin. She felt sick to her stomach, then everything went black……

AN- Sorry again for taking so long. I will try to update once a week…Love ya guys. Read and Review!! Please!!!


	14. Hermione's Fate

Chapter 14-

Hello everyone! Here is the next chapter…oh before I start, I want to apologize to all of those people who hate Megan…she is important to the story.

Anyways, enjoy this chapter…

Last Time

__

Hermione looked up as the boy moved her hair from her face. Her eyes were out of focus for several seconds before she realized with a start that it was Draco. She wanted to scream, but she didn't have the strength. All she did was open her mouth and gap at him. 'What is he doing here? Why is he trying to help me? Why do…' Suddenly Hermione's head began to spin. She felt sick to her stomach, then everything went black…

Present Day

"Hermione? Hermione!!" Draco yelled as he caught her before her head smashed to the ground. He easily picked her up and stood with her in his hands. As he held her, he marveled a how incredibly light she was. Then, as he was adjusting her in his arms, he felt her bones. He immediately lifted her shirt and what he saw brought a gasp from his throat. Her ribs were literally touching the skin. There was no fat or anything between the two things.

'Oh Merlin! What has she been doing? Starving herself?' he wondered as he began running towards the hospital wing. He weaved through many corridors and flew up many steps before finally arriving in front of the door to the infirmary. He hurriedly kicked the doors open and ran through.

"Mr. Malfoy!!" Madame Pomfrey yelled as he burst through the doors, not noticing the frail, unconscious girl in his arms. "What do you think that you are doing?!? This is a hospital, not a ZOO!"

"Look." Draco said as he held Hermione out to the angry woman in front of him.

She screeched. "Why didn't you say so?" she yelled as she pointed to a bed. Draco immediately took Hermione to it and laid her down. "What's wrong with her?" she asked as she ran into her office to retrieve some potion bottles.

"She just…passed out. I think that she hasn't been eating." he said as he gazed at the girl that he loved with tears in his eyes. "Hurry!" he yelled after a minute, thinking that the old lady was taking too long.

"Everything will be okay, Mr. Malfoy. Just leave us alone and I will do what I can."

"No. I won't leave her." he said stubbornly.

"Mr. Malfoy, I am going to have to change her clothes and I do not think that it would be appropriate if you were here." she said as she moved him away from the bed. "Now get out. I will notify you when she wakes up."

Draco still didn't want to leave, but he agreed and went to breakfast. As he was walking towards the Great Hall, he heard someone calling his name. He turned to see Megan approaching with a smile on her face.

"Hey, Draco. What's up?" she asked as she laced her arm through his.

"Not much." he said, as he struggled to keep his voice and face neutral. "How are you, Megan?"

"I'm good. How was your new room?" she asked.

"It was fine."

"Do you have a room all to yourself?"

"Uh, sort of."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, I have my own room, but I share a Common Room with another Prefect."

"Cool. Hey, maybe I could come by sometime and you could show me around." Megan said in a very suggestive voice.

"Yeah, sounds great." Draco said with fake enthusiasm.

"How about tonight?" she asked.

"Ah, sure. Why not." he agreed as he opened the door to the Great Hall and held it for her.

"Great!" she said as she entered the Great Hall and took a seat at the Slytherin table across from Pansy Parkinson.

"Hi, Draco. Who's your new friend?" Pansy asked as if she didn't already know and hate the girl.

"Oh, this is Megan Price. Megan, this is an old friend of mine, Pansy Parkinson." he said as he took a seat next to Megan.

"It's nice to meet you, Pansy." Megan said as she laced her arm through Draco's and laid her head on his shoulder.

"Pleasures all mine, Miss Price." she said with venom dripping from every word and hate written on her face.

"Oh, please call me Meg." she said, as an equally evil expression passed over her face. But, Pansy only caught a glimpse of it because it was gone as quick as it came.

Draco noticed none of this, for his mind had drifted back to the girl who lay passed out on a bed in the hospital wing. 'What is she doesn't survive? Is it all my fault? What have I done? She was eating fine at the cabin, wasn't she? I guess I never really noticed…' he thought over and over, and all this thinking brought one conclusion… It's all my fault.

Right then and there, Draco decided that he had to apologize. He would do anything to get her to forgive him. Anything…

Suddenly, Draco was brought out of his reverie by the screeching if owls. He looked up almost automatically and immediately saw his pen-pal's owl fly his way. Triton landed on his shoulder and stuck out his leg. Draco relieved it of the letter and gave it a little bit of his breakfast. The owl hooted happily before soaring off.

Draco opened the letter and read…

__

Green Dragon,

I can't stand life anymore! I don't know what I am going to do. I feel trapped in someone else's body and I don't know how to get out. I can't eat, I can't sleep, I can barely breathe. I don't think that I am going to be able to make it through the rest of the school year…I just can't live like this…I don't know what I did so terribly wrong to make everyone in the world hate me so.

Do you ever feel like people never look at who you are, but what other people say you are? I have never been mean to anyone with out them being mean first.

You know that guy that I told you about. The one who I thought I loved? Well, he had already moved on and I don't know what to do. I haven't know what to do in a long time. I used to be so organized. I had a plan for everything and I didn't have to worry about friends or boys…I had the two best friends in the world and they were the only guys I thought I would ever need. Why did that have to change? Why did one summer change Everything? I fell in love, and then I lost…everything…

I feel lost and helpless. I wish you were here. I know that you would understand…you always understand…

Well, I got to go. I am not feeling well. I am going to try to go to sleep, but I know that the nightmares will come. I am getting to where I am actually afraid of going to sleep. Sometimes I just wish that I would fall asleep and never wake up again. Life is just not worth living anymore.

Love, Scarlet Cat…

p.s. where do you go to school? I want to meet you. I know that you probably don't want to, but I need a friend and a hug…So you go to Durmstrang or Beuxabatons? I figured that it is probably one of them because you can't be too far away. My owl can fly there in one day or less. Please write back when you can…

Draco stared at the letter. 'Meet? She wants to meet me? Do I want to meet her too? Well, it sounds like she really needs me, but I don't go to either Durmstrang or Beuxabatons. Maybe she doesn't know about Hogwarts? No, that's not possible. Well, I will go write her and tell her now.

Draco excused himself and ran off to his room before Megan could say anything. When he got to his room, he found that Triton was sitting on a chair in the Common Room. "Gosh, you sure are a smart bird." Draco said as he went to his room and got a piece of parchment and a quill.

__

Scarlet Cat,

I am sorry everything is going so badly for you. I wish that I could be there to give you that needed hug. I would definitely like to meet you. I go to Hogwarts, do you know where that is? Where do you go? Where can we meet? Do you still want to meet? I might not be who you think I am…

Well, write back as soon as you can. Don't do anything drastic… I am your friend and even if you don't have anyone else in the world, I am here for you.

Write back…Green Dragon.

Draco then rolled up the parchment and ties it to the owls leg. Then, he sent the owl off into the night.

After sitting for a few minutes, Draco's attention was drawn to the fireplace. It cracked and sparked for a few seconds before a face appeared in the flames. It was Madame Pomfrey. Draco immediately went to his knees in front of the fire.

"Mr. Malfoy. You had better get down here, quick!" she yelled and then she was gone before he was even able to reply.

Draco jumped up and was out the door, racing through the halls before the flames were able to settle in the fireplace. When he arrived at the infirmary he once again, kicked open the door and ran right into Madame Pomfrey.

"Mr. Malfoy, thank Merlin you're here. Go to her. She has been screaming for you for the last ten minutes and we can't wake her!" she said as she motioned to the struggling girl.

Draco nodded and turned towards her. She was laying on the bed, but she was violently thrashing against it. She was quite for a minute before she suddenly screamed, "Draco!! HELP!!!"

Without a second thought, Draco ran to her side and took one of her hands. He held it tightly and bent over to whisper in her ear. "I'm here. It's me, Draco. I'm sorry I left, but I'm here now."

Hermione began to relax slowly as Draco spoke softly to her. Then, as if she thought that he might leave, she flung her arms around him and buried her head against his chest. Tears were streaming down here cheeks and soaking Draco's shirt, but he didn't care. He just held her and rocked her back and forth. "It will be okay. I am here and I am not leaving again." he said before leaning in and he whispered in her ear, "I love you."

"You do?" Hermione said as she pulled away and looked at him.

Draco jumped but didn't pull away. "I-I…I didn't know that you were awake." he stuttered.

"I just woke. Why are we in the hospital, Draco?"

"Well, you passed out and so I brought you here."

"I passed out? Why?" Hermione said in a genuinely confused voice.

"I can answer that." said a visibly shaken Madame Pomfrey. Hermione and Draco looked at her and waited for her to elaborate. "Well, Miss Granger, you have been starving yourself. Your body have nothing to run on and it couldn't take it anymore. Why haven't you been eating, Miss Granger?"

Hermione looked away from the stares of the two other people in the room. "I wasn't doing it intentionally. I just…couldn't nare to eat in the Great Hall with…with…"

"With what?" Draco asked.

"With all the people that hate me." Hermione replied, still not meeting their eyes.

"Who, who hates you?" Madame Pomfrey asked, concern written on her old face.

"Everyone." Hermione replied so quietly that they could barely hear her.

"What about Mr. Potter and Mr. Weasley?" she asked

Hermione just shook her head. "Everyone."

"Mr. Malfoy doesn't hate you."

Hermione looked up at that. She met the older woman's eyes and nodded. "yes he does. This is all just a dream. When I wake up I will be all alone again…" Hermione's voice drifted off and was replaced by silent tears. After a few seconds of confusion, she pulled away from Draco and began walking towards the infirmary doors. "It was a nice dream though."

"Miss Granger! Come back, you are not strong enough…" Madame Pomfrey yelled after finally snapping out of her trance.

"Hermione!! Where are you going?" Draco yelled when he caught up with her and grabbed her wrist.

"I am going back to bed. I know that this dream will turn out badly and I don't want to be here when it does. Although, I have to say that it was nice to have you love me in one of my dreams. I just wish that it wasn't just a dream. Oh well, it was nice while it lasted, but I need to wake up now. Goodbye Draco." she said as she pulled away from him and continued her walk to her room.

Draco turned back to Madame Pomfrey only to see her face white. "What is wrong with her?" he asked as he approached her.

"I think that she has been having such repetitive, bad dreams that she can no longer tell the difference from them and reality. She thinks all the things that just happened were a dream. This is not good, Mr. Malfoy. Not good at all."

"I'll go find her and make sure that she gets back to her room okay." Draco said before turning and leaving.

"I fear that that is all that can be done." the nurse said to herself before going to the fireplace and sticking her head inside.

Draco followed Hermione back to their room and watched her climb into bed. 'What am I going to do now?' he thought as he walked down to the Common Room and curled up on the couch.

AN- That's chapter 14!! Hope you enjoyed!! Please Read and Review!!!


	15. Meet Me

Chapter 15-

AN Hello all. Hows life? Well, mine is good and all that, but I am sure that you don't really care and just want to read the story…so, here it is….

Last Time…

__

"I think that she has been having such repetitive, bad dreams that she can no longer tell the difference from them and reality. She thinks all the things that just happened were a dream. This is not good, Mr. Malfoy. Not good at all."

"I'll go find her and make sure that she gets back to her room okay." Draco said before turning and leaving.

"I fear that that is all that can be done." the nurse said to herself before going to the fireplace and sticking her head inside.

Draco followed Hermione back to their room and watched her climb into bed. 'What am I going to do now?' he thought as he walked down to the Common Room and curled up on the couch.

Hermione awoke the next morning with a growling stomach. "Man, I am starving." she said as she stood and walked to the bathroom. On the way, she saw Draco sleeping on the couch. 'Wonder what he is doing down there.' she thought, but soon decided that she didn't care and continued on her way.

After taking a shower and getting dressed she began heading towards the Great Hall. When she got there, it was deserted. 'Hmm, I wonder what time it is.' she thought as she took a seat in the middle of the Gryffindor table. Hot, fresh food appeared in front of her and she began eating. For some strage reason she was eating like there was no tomorrow and she would never get another chance.

Soon, her plate was empty, but she was still starving. She then piled more and more helpings of food and inhaled it. After three more plates of food, Hermione thought that she was going to explode. She dropped her fork and looked down at the plate in front of her. "Oh, God." she said as a rush of nausea swept over her. She stood and began running towards her room. 'I'm not gonna make it…I'm not gonna make it…' she kept repeating as she ran through the halls. Finally, she appeared in front of her portrait. She yelled the password, ran inside, and headed straight for the bathroom.

Draco was sleeping soundly when he heard the portrait swing open. He jumped up just in time to see Hermione run into the bathroom clutching her stomach. He quickly followed her and walked in to see her leaning over the toilet and vomiting.

He watched for a few seconds and noticed that she was having a lot of trouble keeping the hair out of the way. Without thinking, he walked over to her and held her hair back. Soon, she stopped vomiting, so he picked her up and carried her into the common room. He sat down on the couch with her in his lap and held her.

After a few minutes of him rocking her, she seemed to realize that it was him. "Draco? Why are you doing this?" she asked in a scratchy, hoarse voice.

Draco didn't know what to say. 'Why am I doing this?' he wondered for a few seconds before he looked her in the eyes and said, "Because nobody should be alone when they are hurting."

Hermione searced his eyes for a minute before giving him a half smile. Then it turned to a frown and said, "But _you_ hurt me."

This caught Draco off guard. "I…I know I did, but…but…" he started.

"You what?"

"Well…I know I hurt you, but I…You hurt me too!"

"How?" she said defensively.

"You said that there was nothing between us!! You told that Weasel that you _hated_ me!!" he yelled angrily.

"Well, _you_ called me worthless and a MUDBLOOD!!" she yelled, making her voice squeak and tears run down her face.

Draco opened his mouth to reply, but Hermione cut him off. "You threw me away like _trash_ when I _needed_ you the most!" By now, tears were coming from her eyes like waterfalls cascading down mountains.

Draco froze. 'She needed me? Noone has _ever_ needed me for anything. The only person that ever wanted me was Pansy and all she wanted was my money…' he thought as he watched her yell at him. "What if I needed you too." he whispered so quietly that she could barely hear.

"What?" she asked just as quietly.

Draco looked up and met her eyes. They stood there staring at each other for a few seconds before Draco said, "When I was to the point of dying, you took care of me. You gave me a place to live when I had nowhere to go. You paid for food and clothes for me when I needed it…Why did you do these things?" he paused but continued before she could answer. "You did these things even though you hated me, even though it would ruin your friendships, even though I constantly belittled you and made fun of you. Why?"

"…I couldn't just let you die…" was all that she could come up with. This whole conversation came as a total shock.

'Draco? What are you saying!! This is Hermione Granger you are talking to!! You sound like a pussy Hufflepuff!!' The voice inside of Draco's head yelled. 'You act like you are in _love_ with her or something.'

__

I most certainly am NOT! he yelled back at the voice.

'You are too!! You fell in love with a filthy, little Mudblood.' the voice taunted.

__

I can't fall in love with Granger! I can't fall in love with anybody!

'Well, you did. Admit it!'

__

No.

'You're being childish! Just admit it.'

__

I can't…I refuse…

'Admit it!'

__

Fine! I am in love with Hermione Granger!

'Told you so.'

__

Oh shut it! And with that, Draco snapped back to reality and looked at Hermione's speechless form. She was looking at him cautiously as if he was going insane.

"Look, Hermione, I'm s-s-…I'm Sorry!" he said with a little trouble.

Hermione's eyes widened ever more (if that was possible) and her jaw dropped to the floor.

Draco took this opportunity to continue. "I'll understand if you don't want to forgive me, but you are the only real f-f-friend that I have ever had…"

'Oh Merlin, I am going mushy…' he thought, but he continued.

"Can we forget what happened when that arse hole came??" he asked.

Hermione was finally recovering from her state of utter shock and nodded. "We can try. I'm sorry too. I didn't mean what I said, I was just drowned in so many emotions that I didn't know what I was saying."

Draco smiled weakly.

"Oh, and thanks for taking care of me in there." she said, pointing to the bathroom.

"Yeah, no problem."

"So, yeah…"

"Are you….feeling better?" Draco asked awkwardly. He just doesn't know how to act towards a 'friend' seeing as how he's never had a real one before.

"Oh yeah. I just ate to much and got sick."

"Oh, okay."

"Well, I think that I am going to go write a letter to my…um… my mum. Yeah, my mum." Hermione lied, as she was really going to write to a certain Green Knight.

"Hey, good idea! I think that I will write to mine as well." Draco also lied seeing as he was writing to Scarlet Cat.

Hermione and Draco both immediately ran to their rooms to begin their letters.

__

Green Dragon,

You will never_ believe what just happened! The one, the one that I told you I am in love with. Well, he and I made up. We are now friends again! I don't know exactly how it happened, but I am so happy! I wish that you were here to celebrate with me!_

Well, I got to go. How is the girl that you like? Will she talk to you? Have you apologized?

Love, Scarlet Cat

Hermione sealed the note and sat it on the desk. She couldn't send the note to him until she got a reply because her owl was the only one who knows who he is. Just then a tapping sound was made at the window and she saw Triton. She went and opened it and immediately took off his reply.

__

Scarlet Cat,

I am sorry everything is going so badly for you. I wish that I could be there to give you that needed hug. I would definitely like to meet you. I go to Hogwarts, do you know where that is? Where do you go? Where can we meet? Do you still want to meet? I might not be who you think I am…

Well, write back as soon as you can. Don't do anything drastic… I am your friend and even if you don't have anyone else in the world, I am here for you.

Write back…Green Dragon

'Meet? I had totally forgotten about that. Do I still want to meet? Yes. I want to know who this guy is. I can't believe he goes to Hogwarts. No wonder the letters have been arriving so quickly…' Hermione thought. 'Well, it will be easier to meet that way.' she thought before writing a reply and attaching it to the owls leg, totally forgetting about the other letter.

__

Scarlet Cat,

I don't know what happened exactly, but do you remember that girl that I told you about? Well, we sort of made up and we are going to be friends. I want to be more with her, but I don't know if I should rush things. I think that I need to learn to be a good friend before I will be able to be anything more…

Well, I got to go. Classes start today and I haven't taken a shower yet.

Write Back, Green Dragon

Just as Draco was signing his pen name, an owl flew in through his open window. "Triton, just who I was looking for!" he said as he went and took the note off of the owls leg.

__

Green Dragon,

You go to Hogwarts? So do I! That is crazy. Well anyway, I would still like to meet. Meet me in the Entrance Hall at midnight tonight. I will be there waiting…

Scarlet Cat

'Meet? I had totally forgotten about meeting her. But I guess I still want to…' Draco thought as he wrote 'okay' on the back of her letter and sent it, totally forgetting about his other letter.

Draco and Hermione hadn't talked all day. They were both to busy getting ready to meet their 'secret' pen pal. By eleven o'clock, Hermione was already dressed and ready to go. She planned on saying that she was patrolling the halls if she got caught. Hermione had chose to wear a pair of cut off, low rider jeans and a semi-tight blue t-shirt. She was going for the casual look.

When she was out in the halls, she decided that since she was an hour early that she might as well actually patrol the halls a little… As she was walking towards the Gryffindor Common Room, she heard noises. She turned and looked down a dark corridor to her left. She could see something moving, but it was too dark to know what it was. She took out her wand and lit it. She then gave a little yelp when she saw Harry Potter and Ginny Weasley making out.

When they heard her, they jumped apart. "Hermione?" Harry asked.

"Potter." She replied in a dry voice. "Twenty points from Gryffindor! Go back to your room, curfew was a long time ago!" She demanded.

"Why should we! You are out past curfew too." Ginny retorted.

"That's what's nice about being a Senior Prefect. I have no curfew." Hermione said before watching them scowl at her and scurry off to the Gryffindor Common Room. Hermione laughed to herself before taking a glance at her watch. Eleven Forty-Five. She needed to start to make her way towards the Entrance Hall or she would be late.

When Hermione got to the Hall, she only had to wait a few minutes before a cloaked figure appeared at the top of the stairs. He startled her at first, but she made herself calm down as she waited for him to come to her…

AN- Till next time, folks!!! Bye…Read and Review, PLEASE!!!!


	16. A secret

Chapter 16-

AN- Hello all. I just want to apologize for taking so long to update. You know Christmas and all….Well, here it is…

Draco saw a girl standing towards the edge of the hall. He paused only a second before he took a deep breath and continued his journey. He tried to figure out who she was as he approached, but being that it was night, she was shrouded almost completely in shadows. When he finally reached her, he saw that her head was down and she was standing perfectly still as if frozen. He took another deep breath and raised her head slowly. What he saw shocked him more than anything else…It was Hermione Granger!!

"Hermione?!" he asked in total shock.

"Draco?!" she said in the same dumbfounded shock that he had.

"Hermione, what_ are_ you doing here?" Draco asked, realizing that she must have just been patrolling. 'But why…?'

"I am…waiting for someone. You?" she asked. 'He must be patrolling, but why would he be here this late?'

"Me too. Who are you waiting for?" Draco replied. 'She can't be… Scarlet Cat…can she?' he wondered, secretly hoping she was.

'He can't be…but it fits…' she thought, pausing a moment before finally replying. "Well, I am meeting this guy…Are you Green Dragon?"

Draco smiled inwardly before saying, "Yes, and you're Scarlet Cat! Duh! It all fits! I can't believe that I didn't see it before!"

"Yeah…" Hermione said quietly. She wasn't sure that she was comfortable with him being her pen pal.

Realization suddenly hit him. "Oh Hermione. I am so sorry." He immediately wrapped his arms around her and pulled her close. "I never meant to hurt you."

"Wait…" Hermione said, pulling away. "In one of the letters, you said that you…loved…" Hermione trailed off.

Draco looked away for a second before turning back to her. "Yeah…"

"So, what do we do now?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we can just pretend that it never happened or we can…"

"What?"

"We can be…we can like go out?" Draco said, his words uneasy with a girl for the first time in his life.

"We can?"

"Not if you don't want…"

"Well, I think that it could be okay…if you want?" Hermione made it a question more than a statement.

"I think that we could work something out…"

"Okay."

"Okay."

"Does this mean that you forgive me?" Draco asked after a moment of silence.

Hermione thought about it for a moment and said, "No."

"Huh?" Draco asked in shock.

"But I do know what you can do to make it up to me." she said with a huge smile and an evil glint in her eyes.

Draco was slightly taken aback before uneasily saying, "And what is that?"

"Help me get my friends back."

Draco looked puzzled, but asked her to continue.

"Well, I figured that you would probably want to keep this a secret seeing as you got a reputation and your father is…Well, am I right?"

"I suppose that that would be best…why?"

"Well, if I can't hang out with you in public, then I need to have friends, right?" Draco nodded. "Good. And you are going to help me."

"Okay, what do I do?"

"Well, here's the plan…"

Harry and Ron were walking down the dungeon hallway after potions when they heard a loud female voice coming from around the corner.

"Was that Hermione?" Ron asked Harry.

Harry stopped him and put a finger to his lips. They both peeked around the corner to see Malfoy and Hermione fighting.

"You stupid Mudblood Bitch!" Draco yelled at her.

"At least I am not a Slytherin Prat like YOU!" Hermione retorted.

"Why don't you just go kill yourself?? It would make a lot of people happy. I mean it's not like your life is worth living anyway!" Draco said smoothly. "I mean you have no friends, your dad beats you, your mum died on you, and you are a filthy, worthless MUDBLOOD!"

Harry saw tears well up in Hermione's eyes as she faced Malfoy. "You ungrateful FERRET!"

"Ungrateful? I'm ungrateful???"

"Yes _YOU_! I SAVED YOUR LIFE, I TOOK CARE OF YOU WHEN YOU WERE ALMOST DEAD, I EVEN HELPED YOU GET BETTER!!!!!!!" Hermione yelled at the top of her lungs, refusing to let the tears fall.

"Whatever!" Draco said before turning his back on her and sauntering away.

Harry turned to Ron and said, "I think that you were wrong about Hermione."

"I know." Ron said, looking at the ground sadly. "What are we going to do?"

"_We_ are going to apologize to her." Harry replied, gesturing towards Hermione.

Ron gulped and nodded. He then took a deep breath and turned the corner to find Hermione sitting against the wall with tears falling slowly down her cheeks.

"Hermione?" Ron said quietly.

Hermione jumped and began frantically rubbing at her eyes. She looked up and tried to hold back her tears.

"Oh, Hermione. I am soo sorry." Ron said, crouching down next to her.

Harry did the same on her other side. "Me to, Hermione. Can you ever forgive us?"

Hermione looked up at the two boys for a few long seconds before saying, "Why?"

"We want our best friend back." Ron replied.

"What, so I can do your homework?" Hermione asked, sniffling.

"No! I miss being friends with you. The 'Dream Team' just isn't the same without you." Harry said.

Hermione studied them again before nodding. "Okay."

"Good. Let's go somewhere." Ron said, helping her stand.

Hermione smiled and let them lead her out of the room.

'Well, if that wasn't a brilliant performance then I don't know what is!!' Draco thought as he paced the Common Room and waited fro Hermione's return. Soon however, he got tired and laid down on the couch. 'Where is she?' After only a few minutes, he fell asleep.

"Well, I think that I am going to turn in. It's already after midnight." Hermione told Harry and Ron with a smile after spending the day catching up with them.

Harry and Ron nodded. "Can I walk you?" Ron asked her.

Hermione smiled happily and nodded. "Sure. That would be very nice."

Ron jumped up from the couch and offered her his arm. Hermione laced her arm through his and he led her out of the Gryffindor Common Room. He turned and winked at Harry before disappearing through the portrait hole. Harry cocked his head to the side but smiled anyway.

"Hermione?"

"Yes Ron?"

"I wanted to apologize to you. I jumped to a lot of conclusions back there and I want you to know that I am very _very_ sorry. I can't believe that I would ever think any of that about you!" Ron said, not meeting her eyes.

"Oh Ron! You have no idea how much that means to me!" Hermione said, tears filling her eyes. "I love you Ron and that will never change."

"Really?"

"Of coarse."

"Good. Hermione, you really are a good friend."

Hermione smiled and kissed his on the cheek. "Good night Ron. See you tomorrow."

Ron smiled and watched her disappear through the portrait hole. "Goodnight."

Hermione walked through the portrait and immediately saw Draco laying on the couch. 'Ah…he waited up for me! How sweet!' she thought as she stood there and watched his sleep for a few minutes. Smiling, she walked over and shook him gently.

"What? What happened?" Draco said, sitting up and looking around. When his eyes finally focused, he saw Hermione and realized that he had fallen asleep. "Oh, hey Granger."

"You know, since we are going out now, you can call me by my first name." Hermione said with a laugh.

"Nope. I think that I prefer Granger."

"Fine, Malfoy."

"Ri-ight." Draco said as he moved so that she could sit down next to him. "So, how'd it go?"

"Great! They fell for it!"

"I don't understand why you want to be friends with them anyway." Draco replied. "I mean honestly, if any of my friends treated me the way they treated you I wouldn't want to be friends with them. In fact, if it was me I would get revenge."

"Well, I am most definitely _not_ you, and I wouldn't be able to make it through this year without any friends." Hermione replied matter-of-factly.

"So what? I am not your friend now?" Draco asked, pretending to be hurt.

"Yeah, yeah. You are my friend in secret. What am I supposed to do when we aren't in private? What am I supposed to do during classes, dances, and meals??"

"Look at my sexy body?" he asked slyly.

"Ha ha ha, _very_ funny."

"Fine. You can be friends with them if it makes you happy."

"Thank you fro your permission." Hermione said sarcastically as she dramatically rolled her eyes. "Well, it's getting late and I am going to bed."

"Me too. Your room or mine?" Draco replied casually.

"I know! How about I sleep in my room and you sleep in yours." she replied as she started heading towards her room.

"Nope. I don't think that I like that idea very much."

"Darn. Then I guess I will sleep in your room and you can sleep in mine." she said changing her direction.

"Whoa there missy. I got a better idea." he said as he grabbed her wrist. "How about we both sleep in your room?"

"No."

"But-"

"No." Hermione said putting a finger to his lips. "Go to bed, Malfoy. Alone."

"Fine." Draco said with a smirk. "It was worth a try."

"No, it wasn't." Hermione replied, grinning.

"Whatever. Goodnight, Granger."

"'Night, Malfoy."

With that, they both went to bed. Alone.

AN- That is al for now! How was everyone's Christmas?? Mine was great!!!! Hehehe!!!

I want to thank all of my fabulous reviewers! You all a great!!!!!!!!


	17. Trips to Hogsmeade

Chapter 17-

Hello everyone, how have you been doing? I am okay…College is a little crazy, but starting to settle down…Well, I know that you don't really care so I will just let you read the story, so here it is…

Hermione thought that everything was perfect in her life, almost. She still had no mother and a father who hurt her, but she was still extremely happy. During the day, she would pretend to hate Draco and be friends with Harry and Ron. Then, at night, hidden from the rest of the world, she would be best friends with Draco. They would talk about anything and everything and do homework together every night. Yep, Hermione's life was good.

About two weeks from the day she met up with her pen pal (Draco), that would all change…

Hermione woke that morning with a smile on her face. She had stayed up late talking to Draco, and she couldn't wait to see him. She got up and decided to take a quick shower before breakfast. When she got into the shower, she started thinking about the past couple weeks.

'Draco and I are getting really close. I love hanging out and talking to him, but what if Harry or Ron find out?' she wondered as she shampooed her hair. 'They won't, right? Well, if they do, it's not like Draco and I are anything more than friends…' Hermione thought, but knew that her conscious was telling her that she wanted there to be more. 'I like him a lot, a relationship would never work between us, we are from two _very _different groups of people!'

'Hermione, just admit it. You know that you are in love with him.' her conscious told her.

__

I am not_ in love with him!! _she yelled to herself.

'Sure.'

"Hermione! What are you waiting for?" Draco called from the Common Room.

"I am coming!" she yelled back as she finished brushing her hair. They were going to go to Hogsmeade today, and Hermione was totally excited. They were taking Harry's secret passage, and Hermione had even stolen his invisibility cloak. Yes, Draco was a very bad influence on her.

Hermione grabbed the cloak and set off down the stairs. She met Draco at the bottom of the stairs and she threw the cloak over them so that they could get going. It was the middle of the afternoon, so they had to very careful to stay under the cloak and not bump into anyone walking.

They were finally in the passage and she pulled off the cloak. "Let's get moving." she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him towards Hogsmeade.

"Where did you say that we were going to end up?" Draco asked after they had been walking for a while.

"In the basement of Honeydukes." Hermione replied as she continued walking, still holding Draco's hand.

"Oh, okay."

"Come on, I think that we are almost there." Hermione said.

"You think? Have you never been in this passage before?" Draco asked skeptically.

"Well, no. Before I starting hanging out with you, I was a good girl." Hermione replied without looking at him.

"Does that mean that you a naughty girl now?" Draco asked in a husky, masculine voice.

"You know that I didn't mean it that way." Hermione said, extremely glad that he couldn't see her face since she was blushing so darkly.

"Didn't you?" he asked.

"No, I didn't." Hermione replied defiantly. Draco was about to say something, but stopped when he saw a trap door. "We're here." Hermione said as she threw the cloak over herself and began to climb through the trap door. When she saw that the coast was clear, she ushered Draco through.

When they were out on the street, Draco told her that he wanted to get some money from Diagon Alley really quick, so they took the floo network to Gringots. They then shopped for a few hours before deciding that they should probably go back since it will be getting dark soon. They were getting ready to go back to Hogsmeade when something caught Hermione's eye. "Draco! Look!" she said pointing down Knockturn Alley.

Draco turned his head in the direction she was pointing and saw none other than Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley walking into one of the many shops. Draco pulled her into the shadows and they watched as the boys walked into a shop.

"What are they doing down there?" Draco whispered.

"I don't know! I can't believe that they are shopping in Knockturn Alley! I don't know what is wrong with them."

"Let's find out." Draco said, pulling the invisibility cloak out of her bag and throwing it over them.

Hermione opened her mouth to protest, but curiosity won her over and they went down the alley.

The two of them crept down Knockturn Alley after Harry and Ron. Soon, they were inside the store that the two boys had entered only minutes before. They looked around the room, but Harry and Ron were nowhere in sight.

After a few minutes of wondering what happened to the boys, a curtain leading to the back room opened and Harry and Ron stepped out.

"Are you sure that we should be doing this? What if we get caught?" Ron whispered to Harry as they headed to the exit.

"Calm down, Ron. Who would ever suspect the Boy-Who-Lived and his red-headed sidekick to practice Dark Magic?" Harry asked confidently as he marched out of the room with an air of confidence that Hermione had never seen.

Once they were out of sight, Hermione turned to Draco. She was about to say something, but Draco covered her mouth and started moving towards the door. Hermione's instincts were to struggle, but instead she let him drag her out into the alley.

"We have to keep up. I want to know where they are going." Draco hissed in her ear as he released her and let her walk on her own.

They followed Harry and Ron back into Diagon Alley and straight to Leaky Cauldron. Once inside, Harry and Ron climbed into the fireplace a flooed to Hogsmeade.

When the boys were gone, Draco lead Hermione into the back room and they took off the cloak.

"What is going on?" Draco asked.

"I have no idea. Why were they buying Dark Art stuff?" Hermione asked.

"How should I know? You're supposed to be their best friend!"

"Well, I don't! They never tell me anything because they know that I would be against it and I will tell on them. I mean honestly, they haven't truly trusted me since that time in third year when I turned the Firebolt into McGonogall."

"You what?"

"I thought that Harry's Firebolt was jinxed, so I gave it to McGonogall for a checkup." Hermione replied as if it were nothing.

"Are you crazy?! They could have torn it up! Do you know how much one of those costs?!"

"Oh god, not you too." Hermione said as she rolled her eyes dramatically. "Can we please go back to Hogwarts and discuss this later?"

"Yeah, yeah. Let's go." Draco said, once again throwing the cloak over them and started walking towards the door. He reached for the handle and found that it was locked. He turned it back and forth several times before cussing and kicking the door.

"What's wrong?" Hermione, who had been to deep in thought to notice that they were locked in, asked.

"The door is locked."

"Okay, and?"

"It won't open!"

"Did you try to use your wand?" Hermione asked as if it was the most obvious things in the world.

Draco opened his mouth, but closed it. He hadn't tried that. He pulled his wand out of his pocket and held it up to the door. "_Alohamora_." Nothing. "_Alohamora_!" Still nothing. "What now, Little Miss Know-it-all?"

"I guess we are locked in." she replied.

"Great."

"What do we do now?" Hermione asked.

"Well, we could play a game." Draco asked in his best innocent voice.

Hermione looked at his suspiciously, but decided that she had nothing else to do. "What did you have in mind?"

AN- That's all. I hope you aren't too mad at me for the wait! Love yas!


	18. Games

Chapter 18-par AN- Well, it has been a long time since I updated, so I am going to make this chapter really good. Sorry, but please continue to review! I love you!

"I think that we should play a little game of truth or dare." Draco suggested in the most innocent voice he could while grinning like a Cheshire Cat. "Strip Truth or Dare." he added.

"NO, no, definitely not!" Hermione replied thought deep inside she thought that it would be fun to see Draco(AN-Nice thought huh?)

"Ah, come on. Youre no fun." Draco whined.

"In your dreams. I am NOT taking off any of my clothes in front of you!"

"Fine, be that way. We can just sit here and do nothing."

"Fine!" Hermione replied indignantly as she took a seat across the room from Draco.

"Come on, Hermione. It could be fun. Would you honestly rather sit here and do nothing?"

"Yes, I would."

"Okay, fine. We wont play strip truth or dare. Hey, how about I never?"

"I never?"

"Yeah, what you do is say I never and then finish the sentence. If I say something that I have never done and you have done it then you have to take a shot. Understand?"

"A shot of what?" Hermione asked.

"Why Rum of coarse." He replied grinning broadly.

"And where may I ask do you plan on getting Rum?"

"We are in the Leaky Cauldron, arent we?" Hermione was about to refuse, but Draco interrupted her. "Its between drinking and stripping, its your choice."

"Draco Malfoy! I do not like ultimatums!" Hermione said indignantly, but in the end agreed to I never.

Draco smiled widely as he ran to one of the cupboards and got 2 large bottles of Rum and two shot glasses. "Okay, I will go first." he said and Hermione nodded. "I never, kissed the boy-who-lived." he said, smirking at Hermione.

Hermione raised an eyebrow before taking a shot from her glass.

"OH! Do tell!" Draco said, practically bubbling with anticipation.

Hermione blushed and shook her head. "No."

"Aw, come on!" Draco pouted.

"Fine, once in our fifth year I kissed Harry."par "Why?"

"Argh! Because he asked me to." Hermione mumbled.par "What! Potter ASKED you to kiss him!" Draco practically yelled.

"Shut-it! Harry thought he had feelings for me and he wanted to know by seeing if the kiss meant anything." Hermione said, trying to defend her friends honor.  
"And was there?" Draco asked in an extremely serious tone.  
"That,my dear, is none of your business. Now, my turn. I never kissed Pansy Parkinson." Hermione said.

Draco raised an eyebrow, but didnt lift the glass to his lips immediately. Hermione was about to argue when he took the shot and sat the glass down. Hermione smirked and said, "I thought so."

"Yeah, yeah. Well, I didnt like it." Draco mumbled.

"Uh huh."

"Anyway, I never had sex with a man." Draco said, hoping to find out Hermione's secrets.

Hermione looked stricken. Pain filled her eyes before she blinked it away and took the shot.par Draco was totally shocked. He hadnt expected her to have done such a thing. "What?"

Hermione took a deep breath before anger filled her face and she said, "I took the shot didnt I?"

Draco was taken back by what she said. He was about to drop, but he had to know. "Why? Who?" Draco asked.

Hermione's eyes flashed before a singly tear fell down her cheek.

"What's wrong?" he asked in a desperately confused voice. par "Nothing, forget it. I don't want to play anymore." Hermione said, turning away from him.

Draco stepped up to her and gently placed his hands on her shoulders. "You don't have to tell me if you dont want to." he whispered.

Hermione nodded and wiped at her tear-stained cheeks. "No, I will." she said as she turned back to him.

Draco nodded and took her into his arms in a comforting embrace. "Are you sure?"

Hermione nodded and said, "Its the only thing that I have never told you." she whispered.

"Okay, but lets sit down first." he said as he led her to a bench. par After a few seconds, Hermione collected herself enough to tell him the story. "It-it was m-m-my d-d-dad." she whispered so quiet that he could barely hear her.

"What!" he asked, outraged.

"It was over the summer before I ran away." Hermione said tears falling freely.

"I am soo sorry! I can not believe that anyone would do that! He-he RAPED you!"

"SHHH! I know. Just forget about it. It is no big deal." Hermione said, trying to paste a smile onto her face.

"It is a big deal!" Hermione turned away, but Draco turned her head back to face him and said, "Hermione, I promise that I will never let anything like that ever happen to you again!"

Hermione looked away again and whispered, "Don't make promises that you cant keep."

Draco was startled, she seemed so jaded. "True, I cant keep you from all harm, but I will do my best."

"Thank you. Thank you for everything!" Hermione said, pulling him into a bone-crushing hug. par "So, what do you want to do now?" Draco asked after a few minutes.

"Umm, how about we play some more." Hermione replied.par "You sure?"

Hermione nodded and went back over to the abandoned bottles. "My turn. she said filling up both glasses and saying, I never ate a vomit flavored bean."

The game went on with both teenagers saying funny things and getting very drunk. Soon they had both passed out on the stone floor, waking up entangled in each others arms.


	19. A Messy Jumble of Events

Chapter 19-

Hermione woke the next morning with a pounding headache. When she opened her eyes, she blinded by the light coming through the window and immediately closed them. She then rubbed at her eyes and tried to remember what had happened the night before. Seconds later, she felt something move next to her and the memories came flooding back. Her eyes shot open and she looked around her. She, Hermione Granger, had a hangover. She was about to wake Draco up when she realized that she was no longer laying on the floor in Three Broomsticks. They were in…

"AHH!" she screamed as she turned to Draco and began shaking him desperately. "Draco, wake up! We're in…JAIL!"

Draco shot up and looked around. "Shit!"

"Draco! Watch your language!" Hermione told him. Before remembering where they were. Tears suddenly began springing from her eyes. "I, Hermione Granger, am in JAIL!" Hermione began wailing hysterically. "This can NOT be happening!"

"Calm down!" Draco yelled, trying to figure out how they had ended up in jail, together! Suddenly he remembered their 'game' and getting drunk.

Hermione, who had been wailing in the corner was slowly composing herself and trying to find a reasonable explanation. She then caught site of a guard walking by and hailed him over. "Um sir?" He cocked an eyebrow at her and she continued. "Why are we here?" she asked him innocently.

"Because you and that one over there robbed Three Broomsticks." he replied as if it was totally obvious.

"We did no such thing!" Hermione replied indignantly.

"When they found you two, you were each passed out from all of the rum that you drank. And, there were two empty bottles of the most expensive rum they have lying next to you."

"Oh, the rum." Hermione mumbled. How could they have been so stupid?

"I can pay for that." Draco intervened.

"Can you?" the officer asked.

"Yes, my name is Draco Malfoy and if you would let me make a call, I could have the money delivered to Three Broomsticks immediately." Draco said coolly.

"You do that." the officer said as he opened the door and let him out. Hermione started to walk out after him but the officer stopped her and said. "You stay here little missy."

Hermione frowned but nodded and stepped back into the cell.

Several minuets later, Draco returned frowning. "I can get us out." He said as if the news was a complete shock to him. "My dad has blocked my access to the Malfoy fortune, but my mother lent me the money that I needed."

"Great! Let's get out of here!" Hermione said jumping up and waiting for the guard to come and unlock the cell door.

When they were finally out of the jail, they headed back to the school.

"Do you think that Dumbledore is going to be mad?" Hermione asked as they approached the doors to the Entrance Hall.

"He probably didn't even notice that we were gone." Draco replied, brushing the idea off.

Then, suddenly, they heard the shrill voice of Professor McGonogall. "Mr. Malfoy! Miss. Granger! Where _have_ you two been? I have been looking for you all day!"

Draco and Hermione stood in shock as the irate professor approached them.

Draco finally recovered enough to say, "We went to Hogsmeade and Diagon Alley."

"You did WHAT!" McGonogall screamed.

Draco opened his mouth to speak but was cut off when Hermione suddenly burst into tears. "Please don't expel me! I can't go back home, not to him! Please!" she wailed causing the anger to be replaced by compassion on McGonogall's face.

"Shh," the teacher began as she knelt next to Hermione and began patting her back in a very motherly fashion. "Don't worry dear, I am not going to make you go back to your father ever again." she said in an effort to calm the girl. "You aren't expelled. I was just really worried about you."

Hermione pulled away and looked at the older woman. She studied her face for a second before flinging her arms around her and hugging her tightly. "Thank you, Thank you…" she whispered over and over again into her favorite teachers shoulder.

They stayed that way for several seconds before Hermione finally pulled away. "I am sorry for overreacting like that. I just had a very traumatic morning."

"I totally understand dear. How about we go in and get you cleaned up." McGonogall replied and she stood and began guiding Hermione back towards the school.

Right before Hermione closed the door behind her; she looked back at Draco and winked.

Draco, who had been standing there paralyzed by the scene, saw Hermione wink and smile at him and was totally confused. 'Did Hermione just get me out of trouble?' He wondered as he walked into the building.

In their Common Room, Draco waited patiently for Hermione's return. After about an hour and a half of staring at the fire, Draco fell sound asleep.

Two hours later, Hermione trotted through the portrait hole only to see Draco fast asleep in front of the fire. She slowly approached him and when she was only inches away, she yelled 'BOO!"

Draco jumped and let out a yelp. "Shit, Hermione!" he cursed when he realized that it was her.

Hermione was doubled over laughing. "That was…GREAT!" she said in between laughs.

"Yeah, yeah." Draco said as he regained his composure. He waited for a few minutes for Hermione to stop laughing so that he could ask the question he had been trying to stay up to ask. "So, now that you are done laughing at me, I have a question." Hermione cocked an eyebrow at him but signaled for him to continue. "Did you do it on purpose?"

"What?"

"Did you do the thing with McGonogall on purpose?" Hermione tried to hide a smile as she shrugged. "You did!" he yelled proudly.

Hermione blushed at the obvious admiration in his voice.

"You have been hanging out _way_ to long! I am rubbing off on you." he said, literally jumping up and down like a proud father.

"No Draco." Hermione said, grinning, "I learned that one all on my own."

"Is that so?"

"You bet!"

"Oh yeah?"

"yeah!"

"Well, take this?" he yelled before launching himself at her and tickling her.

"No…Stop!" she yelled as she tried to regain control of her breathing.

Draco began to ease up, but he quickly found that this was a mistake when she flipped him over and began tickling him back.

Draco burst out in laughter as he fought to regain control. Finally, Draco was able to flip her over so she was once again under him.

"Surrender!" He yelled over her constant laughter.

"NEVER!" she yelled back.

They continued to fight like this for a few minutes before Draco finally stopped and collapsed. "I knew that you'd give up." he said as he tried to catch his breath.

"I don't know what you are talking about. I never gave up!" she said as she stared into his deep eyes from only an inch away.

He cleared his throat and tried not to stare at her lips too much before saying, "You don't?"

Hermione shook her head and gulped.

Draco was about to say something, but he was cut off when Hermione mouth crashed against his. Draco responded almost immediately, holding himself off of her with one hand while the other buried itself in her hair. After a few seconds, Hermione's arms wrapped around Draco's neck and Draco licked her lips as if asking permission for entrance. She opened to him and he deepened the kiss as he explored her mouth.

The kiss lasted for several minutes before Draco finally pulled away to catch his breath. He looked down at her as she blushed and turned her head away. Draco turned her back to him and smiled. He once again lowered himself and pressed his lips to hers.

When Draco pulled back again, he rolled off her and stood up. At first, Hermione thought that he was going to leave, but instead, he offered her his hand. She blushed again, but accepted his hand and let him help her stand up.

They stood in silence for several minutes before Hermione couldn't take it anymore and said, "Well, um, I think that I am going to go to bed."

She slowly began walking towards her room, but stopped when she felt an arm grab her arm. "Wait, I have another question to ask you." Draco said, turning her to face him.

"Last time you asked me a question, you ended up tickling me." Hermione replied, smiling brilliantly.

"I won't this time, promise." he said, smirking.

"Ok. Ask."

"Will you be my girlfriend, Hermione Granger?" he asked with an air of confidence.

"Hmmm…I don't know…" Hermione began, causing Draco's eyes to go wide and a frown to appear on his face. "Just kidding, I would love to be your girlfriend." she said, smirking at him.

"Okay, good."

"Good. Now I am going to go to bed. G'Night."

"'Night."

With that, both Draco and Hermione went to bed.

"Wake up, 'Mione!" Someone yelled from what seemed like only inches away. Hermione opened her eyes to see a very excited looking Ronald Weasley leaning very close to her.

Hermione immediately realized that she was still in her red, silk pajamas that only covered the essentials. "RON!" she yelled as she yanked the covers up to her neck. "What are you doing in my room!"

Ron blushed and steeped away from her. "Sorry. I just wanted to come and get you so that you could come to the Quidditch game."

"Oh, forgot about that. How long until it starts?" she asked.

"An hour, but I thought that you might want to come and watch us warm up."

"Oh, okay. Just um…turn around so that I can get dressed." she said pointing him towards the wall across from the wall where her dresser was.

"Can I lay down?" he asked indicating the bed.

"Uh…Sure. Just face that direction, okay?"

"Yeah, okay." he said, sitting down on the bed, facing away from Hermione.

Hermione got up and headed straight for her dresser. She slipped off the spaghetti strap tank top and began putting a bra on when she heard the door open. Thinking that it was Ron leaving, she turned towards the door. Instead, Draco was standing in the doorway, eyes flicking from her to the bed. She turned towards the bed to see Ron staring at her. Her eyes flicked back to Draco to find that he too was staring at her, but neither boy was looking at her face. She followed their gaze to see that she was standing in front of two very teenage boys with only her short pajama shorts and an unclasped bra. She screamed.

Ron jumped off the bed, grabbed the blanket and tried to help cover her up. Once she was covered, she jerked away from Ron.

It was then that it hit Draco. The only reason that he could come up of why they would be in a bedroom together with Hermione half naked must mean that they were having sex. "You little SLUT! You've been sleeping with the Weasel all this time. I knew that you were just a stupid little Mudblood slut!" he yelled the hurt masked by the hatred and anger. "What, are you screwing Scar head to?"

Draco's words cut her deep and tears began welling in her eyes. The one good thing in her life was going down the tubes and this made her mad. "That is none of your business. I hate you and I could really care less what the hell you think. Now get the bloody hell out of my room!" she yelled back at him.

Draco was beyond shock. They had only been dating for like a day and she had already cheated on him. He was furious. He turned and left the room, slamming the door behind him.

When he was gone, Hermione screamed. "I am sorry, 'Mione. I didn't mean to embarrass you or anything."

Hermione walked over to the bed and sat next to him. "Don't worry about it Ron. It is not your fault. I love you Ron."

Ron smiled. "I love you too." he said, hugging her tightly.

Hermione hugged him back, happy that someone cared. Ron pulled away and looked at her face. He studied it for a few seconds, watching her smile. Then, he did something that he had wanted to do for a long time. He pressed his lips firmly against hers.

Hermione did nothing. She was way too shocked to react at all. Then, Ron licked her lips and pushed his tongue into her mouth. Finally, she realized that Ron was kissing her. She was about to push him away when Ron pushed her back against the bed and laid his body on top of hers.

Hermione was beginning to panic as memories of her father flashed through her head. What was she going to do? Then she remembered that when she had stopped fighting, the beating weren't as bad. If she just let him do what he wanted, he wouldn't hurt her…hopefully.

Suddenly, Ron's cold hands found her exposed breasts and began massaging them. She couldn't hold back the small helpless sounds that were escaping her lips.

Ron, thinking that this was a good sound, began kissing down her neck and towards her breasts. He slowly started sucking and biting at them. Meanwhile, all Hermione could think was, 'Please just hurry up and get this over with!'

AN- I am sorry that it took so long! Please don't be mad at me! College life is stressful and I kind of got out of the writing mood for a while, but I am back and I am going to do my best to update as often as possible. The next chappy should be up within a week!


	20. Sweet Unconsciousness

Chapter 20-

Thank you for all of your reviews! I love you all! I know, I took forever again, but i really like this chapter and I hope you do too! I know everyone thinks that I hate Hermione, but I promise I don't...Please don't flame me...

Hermione shot up in her bed. She was drenched in sweat and tears were falling from her eyes. She had had a nightmare. Ron had been there and he…

Hermione wiped away the tears and it was then that she realized that she was totally naked. That's when it hit her, It wasn't a dream at all…

Tears began flowing down her face and she cried. She cried because she was weak, she cried because of her dad, she cried because of Ron, and she cried because she had now lost the only think that had been good in her life: Draco. Everything seemed to hit her at once and so she cried.

Meanwhile in the Great Hall

"Great game, Ron. I have never seen you do so good! You seemed so…confident. What's into you, mate?" Harry exclaimed, patting his friend, who had blocked ever single Quaffle that came his way helping Gryffindor win 230 to 0, on the back.

Ron smiled and shrugged. "I had a _really _good morning." he replied putting extra emphasis on really.

Harry cocked an eyebrow at him before he realized something, "Hey, where's Hermione? Didn't you go get her?"

Ron smiled and said, "She is resting. She had a _busy_ morning too."

"Huh?" Harry said, utterly confused by Ron's tone of voice.

Ron rolled his eyes and leaned in to whisper in Harry's ear.

Harry's eyes widened and his mouth and his mouth wide open. "Merlin! You and _Hermione!_ Are you guys like dating now?" Harry asked, completely stunned by this revelation.

"Yeah, I guess we are." He replied happily.

"Wow. I can't believe it!"

"Me either! I mean, I went in there to get her and she just totally came onto me and ….well you know." Ron said, blushing slightly.

"Cool."

"Yeah. Let's eat, I'm starving."

Draco was furious. 'How could she do that to me! That is so not how it is supposed to happen. If anyone was going to cheat it should have been ME!' he thought as he paced his room.

What if you walked in and assumed things that weren't true? The little voice inside his head asked.

'NO! She cheated on me!'

Why don't you ask her. You could be wrong you know. I mean, do you honestly think that Hermione would do that to anyone?

'Fine! I will ask her!'

Draco walked directly to Hermione's room and opened the door. She was nowhere to be seen. He looked around the room and saw that the sheets were tossed everywhere, Hermione's clothing was scattered across the floor, and there was a tear stained piece of paper under his foot. He picked it up and began reading.

Hermione,

I had a great time this morning. Sorry that I couldn't stay. I had to go play Quidditch. Talk to you later.

Love, Ron

P.S. Thanks for this morning. It was my first time too. We should do it again tonight.

The note crumbled in his hand and he had to struggle to stop himself from screaming. 'This is sooo not happening!'

After pushing back his anger he went in search of Hermione. He walked out into the Common Room where he saw a light on in the bathroom. He threw the door open and ran inside. He no longer cared what she thought. He walked straight to the bath and threw the curtain aside. What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks. Hermione lay floating in the tub, the water red with her blood.

FlashbackHermione

After crying for nearly two hours, Hermione got out of bed and headed to the bathroom. She put a silencing charm on the door, began running the bath, and turned to look at herself. She stood naked in front of the mirror and screamed at the top of her lungs. 'WHY!'

When Hermione turned back to the mirror, all that she could see was a good for nothing whore who was not worthy of life. She suddenly slammed her hands into the mirror breaking it into thousands of pieces and cutting her hands in the process. She stared at the pieces for several minutes before bending to pick one up. She lifted the piece in front of her eyes before putting it against her wrist and pressing it into her pale flesh. The pain was sharp and immediate. Blood welled to the surface and began making way down her hand. The pain was oddly satisfying, so she lifted the glass to the other wrist and made another cut, deeper this time. Blood began running down both of her arms as she stood naked staring at the damage she had caused.

After a few minutes, she became light headed and decided that the last moments of her pathetic life should be spent swimming freely, so she climbed into the pool-sized bathtub to live out the rest of her life. After swimming for a few seconds, Hermione sat down against the side with her head resting outside of the tub and passed over into blissful unconsciousness. 'Everything will be okay now, and I love you Draco.' Were the last thoughts she had.

END OF FLASHBACKDraco

After staring in shock for a few seconds Draco dove into the pool to retrieve Hermione. Once he got to her, he tore off his shirt and began tightly wrapping pieces of it around her wrists. When he had sealed the wounds as good as he could he pulled her out of the tub and laid her on the tile floor. He then pulled out his wand and conjured up a portkey. 'Illegal, but necessary.' he thought as he grabbed it and Hermione. Seconds later they were in the Hospital Wing.

"MADAME POMFREY!" Draco screamed at the top of his lungs. She immediately appeared in the room and look ruffled. She saw Hermione and ran at top speed to her side. A few seconds later she had Hermione on a bed and was magically pumping blood into her.

Draco was standing outside, having been kicked out by Madame Pomfrey shortly after arriving.

Half an hour, the hospital door opened and Madame Pomfrey walked out to find Draco pacing and nearly ripping his hair out. "Mr. Malfoy, calm down!" she said as he ran to her to find out what has become of Hermione.

"What happened? Is she okay? Tell me WOMAN!" he yelled, shaking the woman.

"I need you to tell me what happened." she said looking disapprovingly at the boy.

"What? I-I-I don't know. How is Hermione?"

"Tell me what happened and then we can talk about Miss. Granger."

"Fine…I went into the bathroom and I found her in a tub full of blood! Now is she okay?"

"Come now Mr. Malfoy. You must have heard something. Miss. Granger is not the kind of girl that would do this to herself and you are the only one who has access to the Head Common Room."

"Are you trying to say that _I_ did this?" He gasped in complete shock.

"Well, it is a theory."

"I would never do that to Hermione, I love her!" he yelled, unbelieving.

"We will see, but for now I am going to have to ask you to stay right here until I can get Dumbledore."

"Fine. Whatever."

"Good, I will be right back, now don't move." she said, once again disappearing into the Hospital Wing. Draco sat down against the wall awaiting her return.

A few seconds later she reappeared, Dumbledore right behind her. Draco stood up and tried to wipe all of the tears from his eyes as he faced the headmaster. "Mr. Malfoy, can you please tell me exactly what happened." Dumbledore asked calmly.

"Well, I was pissed off at Hermione," he began guiltily, "so I busted into the bathroom to talk to her about it. When I walked in I went straight to the bathtub and threw back the curtain to yell at her." he gulped and a few tears fell from his eyes. "Then all that I could see was red. The water…it was…red…"

"Calm down Mr. Malfoy. Now, what did you do next?" Dumbledore asked.

"I jumped in." he gulped. "I swam across the tub to her…her…her wrists were…cut." he said, whispering the last.

"Then…"

"Then I tore off my shirt…I tied pieces around her…w-w-wrists. I-I-I thought that she was…"

"It's okay, Mr. Malfoy. Can you finish?"

Draco cleared his throat, wiped the tears, and nodded. "I p-pulled her o-out of the t-t-tub. :sniffle: Then I conjured a portkey and came h-here. And _that _woman won't tell me if she's okay!" he yelled the last pointing at Madame Pomfrey. "Is she okay?"

"Yes, Mr. Malfoy. Miss. Granger will live."

"Thank you. Thank you." Draco whispered collapsing against the old man.

"Go tend your patient, Poppy, I think that I need to spend some time alone with Mr. Malfoy."

"Yes, Headmaster."

"Mr. Malfoy, do you have any idea what would cause Miss. Granger to do this?" Dumbledore asked the boy as he patted his back.

"I-it wouldn't be m-my place to s-say even is I d-d-did." Draco muttered against the professors chest.

"Very well then, why don't you go to your room and get some rest."

"No! Don't make me go! Please, I never want to leave her side again!"

"Okay calm down, you can stay. I will go have a talk with Madame Pomfrey."

Soon Draco was in a chair at Hermione's side. Hermione was sound asleep having taken a serious dosage of Dreamless sleep potion.

"I am soooo sorry Hermione! If you will just be okay I promise that I will _never_ be mad at you again!" he muttered over and over again as he drifted off to sleep.


	21. Forgiving and Forgetting

Chapter 21-

__

Soon Draco was in a chair at Hermione's side. Hermione was sound asleep having taken a serious dosage of Dreamless sleep potion.

"I am soooo sorry Hermione! If you will just be okay I promise that I will never be mad at you again!" he muttered over and over again as he drifted off to sleep.

Draco woke up to a loud scream. He jumped out of his chair and scanned the room wildly for the source of the scream. When he found Hermione tossing and turning on the bed, covered in sweat, he immediately went to her side. He grabbed her hand and began whispering soothing words in her ear. When she started to settle down, he leaned down and gave her a gentle kiss on her forehead. Slowly, she began to open her eyes. She blinked a few times and weakly gazed at Draco's worried face.

"Calm down, 'Mione. I am here and I will never leave your side again. I promise." Draco whispered as he gently cradled her face in his hand. "I love you, Hermione."

Hermione's eyes widened a little as she licked her lips and tried to speak. "Draco." she whispered.

"No, don't talk. You need to rest."

Hermione shook her head and said, "No….water."

Draco obediently got up and fetched her water. He helped her drink some and waited patiently for her to speak.

"Draco…I-I…Almost….Died…"

Tears filled Draco's eyes as he listened to her pained words. "It's okay…."

"No, let me finish!" She interrupted him.

Draco nodded and waited for her to continue.

"I t-thought that you would h-hate me after what h-h-happened." Tears began streaming for her eyes and her body began to shake.

"What? What happened?" Draco asked, not sure what she was speaking of.

She gulped and continued. "The t-thing with R-Ron."

Anger filled Draco, but the look on her face calmed him immediately. "Forget about it. I forgive you for sleeping with him. I am sure that you were just caught up in the mom--"

Once again Draco was cut off by Hermione. "NO! I never wanted to sleep with him!" Hermione yelled, not wanting Draco to get the wrong idea. "H-he…I couldn't stop him…" She whispered, looking away.

"What do you mean? Did he…_make _you sleep with him?" Draco asked in complete shock.

"Don't be mad at him. It was probably my fault." Hermione replied urgently. "He probably thought that I wanted it."

"NO! _DON'T YOU DARE SAY THAT!_" Draco yelled.

Hermione flinched away from his anger.

"Sorry." He said turning her to face him. "Look, I just don't want you to blame yourself for something that that MORON did!" Draco said, emphasizing the word moron. "Do you understand? This was _not_ your fault!"

Hermione gave him a little smile and nodded. "Thanks." she whispered.

He smiled back and sat back down. Her took her hand and kissed it. "Now rest." he ordered.

Hermione nodded and closed her eyes, still holding Draco's hand.

A few seconds later Draco heard Hermione stir. She opened her eyes and looked at him. "Draco?"

"Yeah?"

"I love you too."

Draco nodded and gently kissed her lips. "Good. Now sleep."

"K. G'Night."

"Goodnight, my love."

Hermione smiled and drifted off to sleep, dreaming of her bright, safe future.

After Hermione had been sleeping for about an hour, Draco heard the Hospital Wing's doors open. Her turned to see who was there and was shocked to see Harry Potter and Ronald Weasley. Fury immediately swept through him and he jumped up from his chair letting go of Hermione's hand.

"Malfoy!" both boys yelled in alarm.

"WHAT ARE _YOU_ DOING HERE!" Ron yelled, stalking towards him.

"The better question is what are _you_ doing here, you RAPIST!" Draco yelled back.

Ron stopped in his steps. "What are you talking about, Malfoy?"

"I am talking about what you did to _MY_ girlfriend." Draco yelled back. "You _RAPED_ her!" he yelled pointing at the still sleeping Hermione.

"I have never raped anyone!" Ron replied.

"That's a LIE!" Draco replied as he pulled out his wand and aimed it at the red head.

"I didn't rape Hermione!" Ron squeaked, panicking.

Harry, who had been standing there dumbfounded at the accusations, stepped forward. "Ron, what is he talking about? You said that _she_ came onto _you._"

"She did…I thought…"

"You have_ no idea_ what you did!"

"What do you mean. It can't have been that big of a deal!" Ron yelled, tears in his eyes.

"No big deal? NO BIG DEAL! Do you have any idea what she has been through this last year!" Ron and Harry shook their heads. "Her mother died. Then, her father began beating and raping her! She ran away to her family's cabin. She found me, her worst enemy, dying and she took care of me. She forgot about all of her problems and took care of me! Then she came here and you two…you two were nothing but total jerks. She even staged this huge fight to get you two to be her friends again! Now, she's here! By the way, do you have any idea _why_ she's here?"

Again, the boys looked ashamed and shook their heads. "Because she tried to kill herself. After you took advantage of her she thought that I would hate her and she decided that her life was no longer worth living!" he yelled, tears now streaming from his eyes. "_Your_ stupidity almost KILLED her!"

Ron suddenly broke down. "I had no idea." he whispered.

Harry on the other hand, stood where he was in complete shock.

"Get out!" Draco suddenly yelled. Harry and Ron looked at him and he elaborated. "See you when she wakes up might frighten her. Now LEAVE!"

Harry then helped his friend up and they left the Hospital Wing. Draco wiped his tears away and took his seat next to Hermione once again.

Hermione suddenly opened her eyes and looked at Draco, whose head was hidden behind his hands. "Draco?"

He started and looked up. "Yes?"

"Thanks for that." she whispered. "I don't think that I could have faced him this soon, but I do believe him."

"WHAT?"

"I don't think that he meant it to be r-rape. I think that he was just lonely."

"WHAT? How could you say that? How could he not know that he was raping you?" Draco asked in total confusion.

"Because…"

"Because what?"

"Because I didn't say no…" Hermione whispered.

"What do you mean? Of coarse you said no. I mean, you didn't want to have…with him, did you?"

"No, it's just that when it was my dad, I just…l-let…it happen. It was less p-painful that w-way." she said, not meeting his eyes.

"Oh…"

"Don't be mad."

"No, no I'm not mad." he said, stroking her hair lovingly.

"Good, because I forgive him."

Draco opened his mouth to argue but ended up closing it and nodding. "Okay, but I am never leaving you in a room alone with him again!" Draco said with a smile.

"Okay, deal." she replied smiling brilliantly.

"Hermione, you are never going to have to worry about anything like that ever again! I will never let anyone hurt you again. You are stuck with me forever."

"Darn, I am stuck with my worst enemy, who I happen to be in love with, for the rest of my life, whatever shall I do?" she replied sarcastically.

"Yeah, and your going to like it."

"Yeah, can we get out of here now?"

"Not until Madame Pomfrey say it's okay."

Hermione stuck out her bottom lips and pouted. "But Draco. I wanna go now!"

"No, Hermione. Now, if you are good, I will go get Pomfrey and she can check you over."

"Fine."

"I'll be right back."

"K."

AN- That's all for now. Hope that you all enjoyed.

Hey **_Michele_**, I made Ron cry…hehehe…Atleast he isn't a jerko anymore! You know you love me!

Read and Review PLEASE!


	22. Ron's Letter

Chapter 22-

AN- Hello everyone, how is everyone doing? Well, this is the next chapter…Enjoy…

Ron woke the next morning feeling horrible. After Draco had told him about what he had done to Hermione, he could do nothing but cry. He stood up and walked to his desk. He pulled out a piece of paper and a quill and began writing a letter.

__

Hermione,

I don't know how to say this to you, but I want you to know that I feel totally horrible about what happened between us. I could give you thousands of different excuses as to why it happened, but nothing that I could possible say could ever make up for what I did. You and Harry are the best friends that I have ever had and I could never forgive myself if I didn't at least let you know how wrong and sorry I am. I took advantage of you when you needed me the most and I can't express how very sorry that I truly am. There will never come a day when I won't think of the horrible things that I have to done to you.

I know that this letter doesn't make up for anything, and I understand if you can't forgive me, but I needed you to know how really and truly sorry that I am. Thanks for always being a faithful friend. I am just sorry that I wasn't able to return the favor. I love you more than I could ever say and I want you to know that I will understand if you are not able to forgive me.

I love you and I always will. I am sooo sorry.

Ronald Weasley

P.S. Oh, and about Malfoy. I learned a few things in the Hospital Wing the other night. I think that he truly likes you, maybe even loves you. I am sorry for the way that Harry and I acted towards you at the end of the summer. I realize now that you weren't betraying anyone. You were just being true to yourself. I also want you to know that though we will probably never be friends, I will tolerate him for your sake. Just make sure that he knows that I am going to kill him if he ever hurts you.

By the time that Ron was finally finished writing the letter, it was drenched it tears. He quickly tied it to Pig's leg and sent it off.

Draco was warm, so warm that he didn't want to wake up, but he suddenly felt someone's breath on his arm. He turned his head to the side and slowly opened his eyes. Suddenly, it all came back to him and he couldn't help but smile for Hermione Granger was sleeping soundly in his arms. He then studied her face and found a happy, content smile where he had so often seen a tearful, scared frown. That smile brought the most extreme flood of relief through him that his face lit up and he heaved a huge sigh of relief.

He lay there watching Hermione sleep for several minutes before she began to stir in his arms. He tried to steady his breathing so that she wouldn't wake but it was too late she was opening her eyes.

"Good morning, beautiful." Draco whispered into her hair before laying a light kiss on her forehead.

"Hey." she replied staring up into Draco's shinning gray eyes, smile spreading over her entire face all the way up into her eyes.

"Did you sleep okay?" he asked.

"Never better!" she replied smiling. "You?"

"Well, once I got used to your snoring, I was okay."

"I do _not snore_!" Hermione replied swatting his arm.

"So you say." he replied raising an eyebrow.

"Whatever." Hermione said, pouting.

"I was only kidding. Now, get up and let's go have a wonderful day." Draco said as he began scooting off of the bed.

Just as Hermione was about to do the same, Ron's owl, Pig, flew threw the double doors of the hospital wing. After running into two walls and knocking over a tray of potions, he made it to Hermione and landed at her bed.

"Hey, Pig." she said as she began removing the letter from Pig's leg.

Draco, who recognized the owl as Ron's, immediately became angry, but fought his hardest to keep his eyes as neutral as possible. He watched Hermione's eyes as she read through the letter. Tears began forming in her eyes, but by the end of the letter she was smiling faintly.

"Well?" Draco asked, hiding the anger behind his curiosity.

"Um, he was just…apologizing."

Draco had to swallow back his anger in order to say, "Oh, that's good."

"Yeah, I am glad that he apologized. I know that they mostly just use me for homework, but they are still my friends and they have never done anything to intentionally hurt me."

With that, Draco exploded. "What are you talking about! Do you not remember when they hated you because they thought that you were with me? Don't you remember when they totally turned their backs on you after Ron came to the cabin? What about all of that, Hermione?" he ranted.

Hermione looked stunned at his outburst and was totally speechless. She just couldn't fathom how he could go from sweet and understanding to crazy that fast.

"Look," Draco said, after seeing her hurt face, "I didn't mean that. It's just, I don't want you to get hurt again. I don't want to take your best friends away, but I can't stand by and let them tear you up over and over again."

Hermione smiled. "Come here." she said, motioning for him to sit next to her on the bed. "Read this." She handed him Ron's letter.

Draco stared at her for a few minutes before finally turning to the letter. He read it through quickly, but stopped when he got to the P.S. and saw his name. He read that part three times before finally looking up at Hermione. He opened his mouth then shut it. Now, he was speechless.

"Now you see, does that sound like someone who is lying? Someone who wants to hurt me?"

Draco stared for a few minutes before finally shaking his head.

"Draco, people mess up." He turned his head away and looked at his lap. "Draco, look at me." After a second of hesitation he finally turned to her. "I know that trusting people is hard, but you have got to take a chance once in a while. Harry, Ron, and I have been through a lot together. We have all put our lives on the line for each other countless times and that forges a bond that is very hard to break. I know that Ron messed up. He messed up bad, but if I didn't give people second chances we wouldn't be here together right now. I would have left you out on the road to die by yourself. Now I am asking you to give Harry and Ron a second chance. I am not saying that you guys should become buddies or anything, but you can try to act civilly, right?" Draco nodded slightly.

"Fine, but remember, I am only doing this for you."

"Good. I am going to write Ron back really fast then we can go." she said getting a pen and quill out.

__

Ron,

I accept your apology. I know that what you did was not what was intended and I forgive you. I am also very happy to hear that you accept the fact that Draco and I are a couple. Draco told me that he would do his best to act civilly to you as long as you do the same.

Well, Draco and I are going to spend the day together. I will see you later sometime.

Hermione.

"Okay, now, let's go have that wonderful day together." Hermione said as she grabbed Pig and tied the letter to it's twitching leg.

"Right."


	23. The Last Dance

Chapter 23-

AN- here it is…enjoy….

The next two month were wonderful. Hermione and Draco couldn't be happier together and everything seemed to be going great.

At lunch one day in April Dumbledore had stood up and told the students that there was to be one final ball at the end of the year. This was met with excitement, nervousness, and jealously from the first, second and third years who weren't allowed to go. Draco immediately asked Hermione, Harry asked Ginny, and Luna asked Ron.

A week after the announcement there was a Hogsmeade trip. Hermione, Ginny and Luna went to go buy dresses while the boys stayed behind and played exploding snap and wizards chess all day. Hermione picked out a dress that went just past her knees, but was conservative enough to cover everything, and still make her look extravagant. Luna's dress was canary yellow with a very low cut back. Finally, Ginny's dress was dark green which accented her auburn hair wonderfully and fit her curves in all the right places.

When the date finally came for the ball, Hermione, Ginny, Lavender (who was going with Dean), Parvati (who was going with Seamus) and Luna got together to get ready at about 1 o'clock. The boys were scheduled to pick them up at five for dinner. They were going to go to Hogsmeade, with permission of course. The girls spent four long hours doing hair, makeup and accessories (Hermione spending three of the four hours reading) before they were finally ready. They knew that the boys would be in the common room waiting so one by one, they put on a show

Lavender went first in her light pink sleeveless dress. Her hair was in an intricate knot on top of her head with curls framing her face. Her makeup was done in light pinks and reds with black eyeliner to bring out her lavender eyes. (Where else do you think that she got her name?)

She walked down the steps and took Dean's offered arm at the bottom. She smiled at him as they stood by the wall to watch the others join their dates.

Parvati was next in her royal blue spaghetti-strap dress. Parvati's hair was down allowing in to cascade down her back like a ebony waterfall. Her fingernails and toenails watched her dress perfectly as did her makeup. She woke a gorgeous two karat diamond necklace and matching one karat diamond earrings. She unconsciously flipped her hair back from her face as she began to walk down the steps smiling at Seamus' spellbound face. She soon joined him at the end of the steps and they took their places next to Lavender and Dean.

Luna appeared at the top of the stairs next in her yellow backless dress with a huge smile. Her dress hit the floor with a short train flowing behind. Luna's makeup was done expertly accenting her smile and her loving eyes. Her hair was done in an upside down french braid with the top in tight, spiral curls. She did a quick turn at the top of the stairs loving the stunned reaction she was getting from her date, Ron. She began walking down the steps only to reach the second to last one and trip. She began to fall forward, but Ron caught her and effortlessly carried her over to where ther other couples were standing.

After a few more seconds, Ginny appeared at the top of the stairs in her dark green, very form-fitting dress. She had her hair done in tiny french braids all the way around her head coming together in a beautiful bun in the middle. She had an emerald, heart choker and a bracelets that matched. Her makeup was done slightly more extravagant that Luna's but not quite as pronounced as Lavender's of Parvati's. She glided down the stairs towards Harry with a shy smile on her face and a gleam in her eyes. When she reached him he offered her his hand and a smile. She quickly took the hand and returned a smile of her own.

"You look…amazing." he whispered as he led her to where his best friend and Luna stood.

Once they were settled into line everyone turned their eyes to the top of the stairs for one last time. Draco looking as if he was going to be sick from having to wait for so long began bouncing on the balls of his feet in anticipation. After about a minute of waiting Draco turned to Ginny. She met his eyes and shrugged. She then glanced away and smiled. Draco quickly turned his attention back to the stairs and saw Hermione appearing out of the shadows of the room. She stared intently at the floor as she began walking towards the top of the stairs.

Hermione's dress was the light blue color of ice with gleaming diamond straps that crisscrossed all the way down her back. The dress went just past her knees and belled out at the bottom with it's many other layers. Her shoes were silver with more diamond straps that went around her ankle. She was wearing a silver necklace with a single small diamond hanging from it and she had match earrings that dangled down three inches from her ear. She had very light makeup on to extenuate her features. Her hair was done in a simple bun with a couple loose curls left down to frame her face.

Hermione continued to stare at her feet as she slowly walked down the steps, not noticing that every boy in the room was staring at her with mouths hanging open. When she reached the bottom of the steps she finally looked up to see Draco standing there with a dumbfounded look on his face. She gulped and asked, "Do I look okay?" She blushed but refused to look away.

Draco opened his mouth and closed it several times before he finally just had to nod.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

He nodded again and snapped out of his trance. He took a deep breath and cleared his throat. "You look stunning…" he said before taking a bow and offering her his arm. "May I have the EXTREME privilege of escorting a lady as beautiful as you to the dance?" he asked in a suave voice.

Hermione smiled and took his arm. They then followed the others to the carriages that awaited them outside the Entrance Hall. Each couple got into their own carriage and they were off to Hogsmeade.

Dinner went great. The boys were perfect gentlemen and everyone was laughing and having a great time. Pretty soon, they were all finished and piling back into the carriages for the dance.

Hermione and Draco danced the night away. Slow songs, fast songs, any song. Soon, Hermione was exhausted. She loved dancing with Draco but boy was it tiring. Draco, noticing this, had just walked off to get them some punch leaving her standing and watching Harry and Ron dance with their dates. She got lost in her thoughts and soon Draco was standing in front of her smiling.

"Here, I got you this rose." Draco said holding out a deep red rose. She smiled and reached for the beautiful flower. As soon as she touched it she felt that familiar pull behind her naval and knew that it was a portkey. But why would Draco use a portkey. She thought as she traveled to her unknown destination.

Next thing she knew, her feet hit the ground and she immediately realized that she was in the forbidden forest. "Draco, what are we doing here?" she asked as she looked around. When he didn't answer she turned to look at him. Only it wasn't him, it was…

"Dad! How did you get here? You're a muggle. Muggles can't…"

"Do you honestly think that you were raised by MUGGLES? Your mum and I aren't muggles. We were cast out of the wizarding community and forced to live as muggles for the rest of our lives just because we massacred a few hundred muggles. If it hadn't been for your precious Dumbledore we would have been able to serve a few years in Azkaban and then continue our lives, but HE thought that we should have to live as the people we despised so much. HE also thought that we should have to raise a muggle daughter and if we so much as slipped up with you once, the dementors could have us. We did what we were told. We pretended to be people that we were not, and now I am finally free of my sentence and I am going to KILL YOU!" he yelled as he charged at her.

Hermione screamed and began running for her life. "DRACO!"

AN-Sorry that so many things go wrong to Hermione, but I love all of the drama and excitement…you know how it is…Oh and sorry that it is such a short chapter…I just love cliffies… MUAHAHAHA! I will update as soon as my schedule will allow. Maybe as early as this weekend…


	24. Putting a foot down

Chapter 24-

AN I told you that I would update soon…Here it is…

__

"I am going to KILL YOU!" her father yelled as he charged at her.

Hermione screamed and began running for her life. "DRACO!"

As Hermione ran, she tried to think of something, anything that would save her life. Unfortunately, the fear was beginning to overcome her as it had so many times before. The fear seemed to cloud her mind and prevent her from thinking clearly. All that she could think was run…she knew one thing, if she stopped, that would be the end of it. He would catch her and he would eventually kill her. So, she ran. She ran as fast as she could.

Then she heard something moving next to her. She turned her head to see what it was, and the result surprised her. It was a baby unicorn. The unicorn was running along side of her about ten feet away.

Hermione watched the galloping unicorn and memories began flashing through her head. She remembered the first time that she saw a unicorn and all of her thoughts revolved around happiness. As these thoughts began flowing through her head the happiness pushed away the fear. Then one of the memories reminded her of one very important fact, she was a witch. A very good witch as a matter of fact. She stopped running in a clearing and turned, wand out and pointed.

A few seconds later, her father came into the clearing. As soon as he saw her he froze. He looked shocked for a second before a smirk spread across his face.

"Ah, how cute. Are you going to kill your father?" he asked, totally sure of the answer.

"No, _dad_. I am not going to kill you." she replied, voice getting steadier by the minute.

"That is what I thought, now give me that." he said, holding his hand out as he began moving closer.

"No." Hermione replied.

"Give it to me NOW!" he said moving closer still.

"STOP!" she yelled, causing the other man to pause for a moment but continued moving with a smile. "I SAID _STOP_!" Hermione yelled, holding her wand more steadily.

Yet again, the man froze but didn't stop. This caused Hermione to get frustrated and fire a body-bind curse at her father. He was immediately bound and totally immobile. She also silenced him so that he wouldn't be able to interrupt.

"Now that you finally shut-up, I am going to talk. I have a lot to tell you and I don't want to have to hear a word coming from your mouth." Hermione pointed her wand straight at her father's heart and began her rant. "Now, first things first, I hate you. You have ruined my life by beating me, raping me, and nearly killing me multiple times. But, unfortunately for you, that is over now. As of this minute, I will now longer be the scared little girl that you have made me. I refuse to continue to let you walk all over me. I am not some defenseless little girl who you can control and abuse. You made me into that person, but I refuse to continue to allow you to do that. I don't know how you continually get out of punishment either, but that too is over now. I am going to stay right by your side until the dementors lay their sweet kiss on you." Her father's eyes widened at this and Hermione smiled. "Oh, that scares you does it? Is it as bad as being exiled from the wizarding world? Well, I guess we will find out because it is going to happen. You ain't escaping this time. You should've just left me alone, but no, your persistent arse wouldn't just move on. And now, I am going to sit and watch your life get sucked away by a kiss. Ironic isn't it? That first time that you forced a kiss on me, you almost sucked my life away. But I got mine back. You, on the other hand, won't be getting yours back. Once the dementors kiss you, you will roan this world all alone. Doesn't that sound like fun? Yeah, I know, I am being…sadistic? No, moronic? No, that's not it either. How about…hmm, I don't know. What I do know is, that revenge is sweet. I won't miss you. You have been dead to me for far too long. I am going to officially delete and memory that I have of you after tonight. I am going to forget all the beating and raping and I am going to live a happy and complete life without you. That reminds me, one good thing did come of one of your beatings. I met Draco. He is a great guy and he would never hurt me the way that you have. He treats me like a human being, unlike you. You could've learned from him, you know. But it's too late for you now. There will be no more second chances for you. You son-of-a-B--"

"Hermione!"

Hermione looked up to see Draco coming out into the clearing. He was soon joined by Harry, Ron and Ginny.

"Hermione, what happened?" Draco asked as he approached the girl.

"This," she kicked her father in the side, "arse hole tried to kill me, but let's discuss this later. I need you to go get Dumbledore and have him call in the dementors."

Harry and Ginny left to do this and Ron and Draco stayed behind with Hermione.

Soon, they were in the charms tower with Hermione's dad tired to a chair and the dementors standing over him.

Hermione was starting to feel a little guilty, but she knew that this had to be done. As she sat holding Draco's hand, her mind drifted back to the last time someone was up here preparing to receive the dementors kiss. 'Sirius…' she thought. 'He hadn't earned it, back then I thought no one but Voldemort himself deserved it. Things sure have changed.' She wanted the risk to be over. She didn't want him around anymore. She didn't want the possibility of him coming after her ever again. It had to end here and now…

Hours later, Hermione, Harry, Ron, Ginny, and Draco were all sitting in the Common Room talking and laughing. She had finally begun to move on after they had held her and let her cry for an hour. Hermione still couldn't get the picture of her father's empty face out of her head, but she knew that what's done is done.


End file.
